Tomb Dweller

Let's get right to it. The title of our sermon is Tomb Dweller. Tomb Dweller.

You know, maybe one of the most fearsome, we could say, and one of the most chilling parts in all the Bible occurs in the account of a man who dwelt in the tombs, and he was possessed by a demon. And it's the story of not just one demon that had infiltrated this man, but many. And the name of this group of demons was Legion.

And in fact, they did enter into an individual, and this story of this individual is what we're going to look into today. As we return to our studies in the Gospel of Luke, we're going to allow Luke to recount this incredible moment for us. So if you have your Bibles, let's open them up and turn to Luke chapter 8. Luke chapter 8. We're going to begin reading in verse 26. Luke 8 beginning in verse 26. And as you turn there, I'd like to put forth a caution statement.

A caution statement. And the caution is this. Upon hearing this story, you may be tempted to immediately write off this man, write off his circumstances, as something that just simply has no relevance to your life today. You know, where you may be tempted to hear this and just think, man, this has no place in my spiritual journey today. Well, if you are thinking that, I will tell you that would be regrettable. Because while we are about to read of a man in extreme circumstances, we could say bizarre circumstances, removed from us by centuries and centuries ago. While that is true, what I hope to see today and that we'll all see today is that within this man's extreme depraved condition is, in fact, embodied the condition of all mankind.

Where described in this man, as we will look at it, it actually is going to describe the human condition apart from God. So this is how we're going to connect with this man. And we're going to follow along in this story. We're not all demon-possessed, of course, but we all are under the tyranny.

We all are under the influence of evil. And without God, we are just as hopeless as this man before he met Jesus Christ. So let's begin this story. It's a remarkable story. Luke 8. We're going to read verses 26 through 39. Here's Luke's account of this. Then, Luke writes, they sailed to the country called Gatorines, which is opposite Galilee. And when he, Jesus Christ, stepped out onto the land, there met him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time.

And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house, but in tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with you, Jesus, son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me. For he had commanded, Jesus had commanded, the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles.

And this demon-possessed man broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness. Verse 30. And Jesus asked him, saying, What is your name? And he said, Legion, because many demons had entered him. And they begged him that he would not command them to go into the abyss.

Now, a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain. So they begged him that he would permit them to enter into the pigs. And he permitted them. Then the demons went out of the man, entered into the swine. The herd ran violently down to the steep place into the lake and drowned. When those who fed them, those who were feeding the pigs, when they saw what happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. And they went out to see what happened.

And they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at his feet, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they, this group of crowd, were afraid. They also had seen it and told them by means, by what means he had done, that had been done for the demon-possessed man, for him to be healed. Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of gatherings asked him, that's Jesus Christ, to depart from them.

And they were seized with great fear. And he got into the boat and returned. Verse 38, Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged him that he might be with him. That's Jesus Christ. 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. Let's stop there. Whew! An amazing account here. And again, I will reissue the caution statement.

I know I'm tempted to look at this story of a deranged man living in the tombs and just to say, man, this is so far removed from where I am today. I can't relate to these circumstances. I may think that, you may think that. But at the conclusion here, again, we're going to see that clearly that outside of God's grace, outside of that, we may have more in common with this man than we would ever imagine.

So what do we see? What do we see? First of all, we see that he's completely enslaved, isn't he? Completely enslaved to his condition. The power of these evil forces. He's enslaved to them.

I think it's graphically portrayed here. Enslaved. We could also say he's alienated. Alienated. Where's he living? He's not living in a house, it says. He's living in the tombs. There at the end of verse 27, he's there not in a house, but rather in the dark seclusion of the tombs. So he's with and amongst the dead. So prior to encountering Jesus Christ, he lives amongst the dead. Where were you? Where were you prior to Jesus Christ coming to you? God the Father, through Jesus Christ coming to you. Where did you live? Were you enslaved by evil influences? Being part of the spiritual dead?

Okay, so we're seeing a connection with this man. They no doubt would have heard him crying. Verse 28 says that he cried out to Jesus Christ. The other gospel writer Mark adds that he cried out day and night. So this is a cry of a desperate cry for help here, no doubt.

In fact, if you want to keep your marker here, let's turn over to Mark's account of this man as well. Of course, we have the harmony in the gospels. Keep your marker here in Luke 8, but let's turn over to Mark 5 verse 5 and pick up with Mark here and his details regarding this man.

This is a cry for help once this man saw Jesus cry. So Mark 5 verse 5, speaking of this man, Mark adds to his gospel account. He says, Mark 5 verse 5, and always night and day he was in the mountains and in the tombs crying out. So if you would have been in the vicinity of this, you would have heard him screaming out. This would have been a type of situation where you would have made a beeline around this area. You would have told your kids, don't go anywhere near that area. A very scary situation, I would say. They would have been able to, if they ever got close enough, to be able to attest that this man also was cutting himself. There at the end of verse 5, crying out and also cutting himself with stones. That's a very graphic image there. There's a dimension of this man that is just so disturbed. The cutting, and we see cutting today, and sometimes we see it amongst our young people, it is an indication of there just being no peace. There's just no inner peace amongst this man. He can't change his circumstances. He's entrapped, enslaved, alienated from all that he wants to be. He's taken on the notion that he doesn't have any value, no value. It says that no one could help him. There at the end of verse 4, no one could tame this man. In fact, look at this. Last part of verse 3 into 4, Mark records last part of verse 3 that no one could bind him, not even with chains. There was no human device that could control the behavior, that could bind this disturbing behavior. We think of all the means by which mankind tries to get under control, this type of behavior today, what you can think about the different means by which we look to bind, to reduce, to reduce, to control, to control, to control, to control, to control, to control, to control, over attack, between, um other people, where thatuku happens and thenley pops away in front of us and thatu ya, we don't think about darkness. That ended up as diagnosis of it.

First thing we did is find a thing on the side of Jesus that wouldn't be only that situation. There was no human design or device that could solve this. All of the attempts were worthless. So picture this man in your mind. He's there. He's not clothed. He's cutting himself, yelling out, complete depravity. Just complete depravity. All hope gone for this man. There is no hope. If you took a snapshot of this man, he's done for. There's no hope. All lights were turned off in this man. He was dead, we could say essentially. Dead to himself, dead to society. No prospect for any future. No prospect. So bring this to you today. Were you ever in a point of your life where that could be described of you? No prospect of any future for you.

Does that seem relatable to you? Again, within this man, living amongst the dead, we have encapsulated the tragic, dramatic illustration of humanity apart from God. This is what we're dealing with today. We know that the Bible tells us why this is. There's nothing in the human condition that's still intact. Sin, evil forces, these legion of evil forces have invaded our emotions. It's invaded our minds, our wills. In fact, the Bible just says in and of ourselves, we're just defiled. We are just defiled. Nothing's intact. Mark has a specific word with regards to that, to that truth, a piercing word. While we're here in Mark, let's turn over just a few chapters to Mark 7, verse 20. Mark 7, verse 20. I want to show you the fact that, oven by ourselves, prior to encountering Jesus Christ, prior to God the Father sending Him to us, we look at this tomb dweller and we should see ourselves here. Here we are, Mark 7, verses 20 through 25. Listen to this. Mark records that He, Jesus, said, Mark 7, verse 20, what comes out of a man defiles a man from within, for from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man. Okay, so I wanted to erase any notion that we don't have any connection point with this man, because even if you say, and even if I said, you know, I can't relate to this man, well, I'm dwelling in the tomb then of pride, we could say, even with that thought.

And I might be enslaved in my pride. So again, in all areas here, man is is enslaved in this way.

Mankind dwell in these spiritual tombs, the spiritual tomb of a depraved mind, a depraved heart, and Jesus Christ comes and we have that encounter. But we know that we're continually in this perpetual state of coming out of these tombs, this list of tombs here that are given to us. We know this internal battle is still with us, even after encountering Jesus Christ. And that's that internal battle is even encapsulated in this man. Turn back to Mark 5. I want to show you this. I found this so remarkable, this part of the account. Mark 5, verse 6 and 7. You see this inner conflict. So Jesus Christ approaches this man for deliverance, and you see this inner conflict that's happening. It's very perplexing, but perhaps you might be able to relate. Mark 5, verse 6 and 7. Listen to this. He says, when he, the tomb dweller, saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped him, and he cried out with a loud voice and said, What have I to do with you, Jesus, son of the most high God? I implore you by God that you do not torment me. So when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped him. Luke's account says he falls down. So he falls down and he worships Jesus Christ here. So how perplexing it is, then, that we see what happens next. He's moved to Jesus Christ in one moment, and then he says, Resist, don't torment me. Jesus, what do I have to do with you here? So again, running to Jesus, also resisting him. It's interesting. Have you ever felt that way? You know, I was thinking about this. One hand, we're calling out to God for deliverance from whatever tomb we're looking for deliverance from. Please deliver me from this. On the other hand, resisting the deliverance, if you will.

Think about that. Do we feel that way sometimes? Why do we feel that way sometimes? That draw and then that resistance? Well, it's the human condition. We innately don't want to change. We find it hard to change. We find it hard to want to change. Why? Why do we find it hard to change from within the heart? What do we have? Evil thoughts, adulteries, fornication. You read this list. Deceit, lewdness, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. So the resistance exists in us. Sometimes we'd rather hold on to the depravity of sin rather than go through the pain of transformation. There's pain involved in moving toward freedom out of enslavement, out of the tombs. It's a drastic change. It's a drastic before and after picture. And I've said this before, but our tomb dwelling can be for so long. Some of that sin has been with us for so long, we actually find comfort in it. It's a weird phenomenon. It's a false counterfeit comfort. Whatever your struggle is, maybe it's anger and it's outburst of wrath. When you let it go and you have this outburst of wrath, almost immediately you feel a sense of release, a relief. It's a weird phenomenon. But then almost immediately you feel regret and you feel worse off than you were before. So it's a counterfeit relief. Jesus Christ is wanting to give us an everlasting relief here and comfort, not a counterfeit. And so He wants to bring us out of these things. So it starts with acknowledging where we are without God and where we are still working to come out of. It's really one of the first aspects of preparing for the Passover.

The Passover, for those who are baptized, who have made that commitment to God, we're going to be celebrating the Passover in the springtime. One of the key aspects in coming to the Passover in a worthy manner is to come with this acknowledgement. Who I am without you, God, and who I am still today, even with you living in me. Start with that acknowledgement. Do we have to be honest in that self-analysis? We're not roaming tombs. We're not screaming at the top of our lungs, but we're trapped in the tomb of an evil thought, evil eye, evil tongue.

So you bring those to mind where you're dwelling in those tombs still today.

Let it rest on you for a while, but I don't want it to be a discouraging process. Acknowledge it. Live there. But then I want you to know that despite this man's rejection, we have such a wonderful, powerful display of healing here, such a merciful God, Son of God here. Let's turn back to Luke 8 once again. Luke 8. And pick up back at verse 29 in this incredible healing moment here. Again, we're seeing the embodiment of the human condition in this man.

So Jesus Christ comes, performs an incredible miracle here. Verse 29, and it's almost an afterthought for Luke. Verse 29, Luke 8, he says, for he, Jesus Christ, had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. This legion come out, he says. And this is something that had seized him, kept him under guard, bound in chains and shackles. He had broken the bonds, driven by the demon into the wilderness. So he says, come out. And then Jesus Christ says, what's your name? What's your name? And he said, legion, because many demons had entered him. And this legion, verse 31, they begged him that he would not command them to go out into the abyss.

The day's coming when all evil is going to be bound.

You know this word, legion, it is the picture of the largest collection of soldiers in the Roman military establishment. I was reading about this and it can be upwards of 6,000. 6,000.

So if we want to bring this to ourselves and we want to connect with this man, this may symbolize just the countless strongholds in our life, right? Countless strongholds. If you're like me, I uncover one evil stronghold and I'm working on it and there's just a legion more behind it, isn't there? And this is a lifelong process that we go through.

So this may symbolize that, but I'll have you hold up all those strongholds to this. Jesus Christ has absolute power over them all. Over them all. Verse 32 and 33, continuing here, now the herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain. Mark records there were some 2,000 pigs. So they begged him that he would permit them to enter into the swine. He permitted them, verse 33, and the demons went out of the man, entered into the swine. The herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned. Absolute miracle here.

Merciful Lord and Savior. Just with the word, go. Go.

And the power that Jesus Christ is using here, the power of the Holy Spirit, we have access today. That's the Holy Spirit living in us. We have this power, this transforming power here. You have this same power. I can imagine this man, the moment they left him, I can just almost imagine him being really just crippled after so many years of being in this state. Perhaps he was able to stand for the first time, stand straight in his shoulders. He began to take on a new posture here, a new posture, a new position as he now looks out that the tombs are behind him, you know. A new power against this evil. And this is the picture of you and I in the new posture, the new power, and the existence that we live in today. With regards to the evil influences, with regards to the sin in our lives, we have this same new posture and power now in our experience. And you begin to look at the Bible and you see this new posture and power throughout all the Scripture. One most notable area that I want to turn to is Romans 8 verse 5. If you'd like to turn over there, I want to talk about this new power position. Romans 8 verses 5 through 8. Because what we're really seeing here with this man is a before and after picture. Before, no hope, alienated from all things. And then after, completely new existence after. And I want you to, this is your experience today. If you have been baptized today, this is your new position. This is your new posture. I want you to acknowledge this, that we have this power to completely transform from the old man, from the old woman. Romans 8 beginning in verse 5 and 6 begins to paint this picture for us. First of all, we have the tomb picture. Here it is, Romans 8 verse 5. For those that live according to the flesh, so this is the before picture, they set their minds on the things of the flesh. For those who live according to the spirit, the things of the spirit, to be carnally minded is death. You're in those tombs. But to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God. You know, what do we have to do with you, Jesus? For it's not subject to the law of God, nor can it be. So then those who are of the flesh cannot please God. Let me stop there for a moment. So this is the before picture, the man living amongst the dead. You and I were living amongst the spiritually dead, alienated from all the promises that God puts forth. No life, no peace in us, complete enmity, and so take that in. That was where we were, the current position in our life.

There have been those that get to that point in their spiritual process, and they say, I'm too far gone. You have no idea what cesspool that I'm in, how deep these tombs go.

I'm out of the reach of Jesus Christ.

They continue to not see the value in themselves that God sees and what God's offering them. And many allow that opportunity to pass them. And to those, I want to say to them, if you're thinking that, was the tomb dweller out of the reach of Jesus Christ? No. No. This is why we get these pictures in the Bible of just complete depravity, a before and after picture, because God wants us to hold our lives up to it and to acknowledge, but not let it stay there. We can't stay there because I want you to see this new existence, this new posture, this new position. Continuing here, verse 9, here it is. I love this. He says, after saying all that you were, verse 9, he says, but you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now, if anyone that does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. So I absolutely love verse 9 there. He says, almost turning to all tomb dwellers, and he says that's not you. It's not who you are anymore. I'm giving you a new identity here, a new position, a new life with regards to all these things. If you have been baptized and you've had the cleansing Spirit of Jesus Christ applied in your life, that laying on of hands, the Holy Spirit is given to you, and you are now put in a new position, and you have the ability, the power, to put away the legions of strongholds in your life. So straighten your shoulders, get up, get a new posture. That's why if you've hit your knees or bowed your head and you've repented of your sins, let it go. One of the most incredible aspects of the past overseas is forgiveness. And one of the most difficult things is to forgive yourself. If you're like me, God's forgiven you. Can you forgive yourself? This is it. Straighten your shoulders. Stand up. You're in a new position now. Continuing here. Verse 12 through 15, therefore brethren, so this is brethren. That's a term of endearment. Brothers and sisters, therefore brethren, we are not debtors. We are debtors, but not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. You don't have to live in the tombs anymore. But if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many who are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. So these are the sons, these are the daughters of God. So all, even though you've lived in the tomb for so long, all that's changed now. You can put to death those deeds of who you used to be. And I want you to know is put to death. Eliminate. So God wants real progress, real progress. And you have the power in you to do so. Not just a little bit of progress. He wants you to put to death these things. Everything that who you were as a tomb dweller, put it to death. And the level of righteousness is way up here. But then he doesn't give us the admonishment without also giving us the ability. He gives us the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish what's necessary. That's the beautiful thing about God. It no longer has to have rule over you. In fact, just to really punctuate this fact, turn over to Romans 6, verse 5 through 7. I want us to live leave here today with new expectations with regards to the sin that's in your life. Romans 6, verse 5 through 7.

We can make significant progress here over it. And we need to look to that and have that expectation before the Passover. You have the power to put away all these things. Romans 6, verse 5 through 7. So if you've been baptized, and this is what's going to speak about that baptism, that relationship through Jesus Christ with God the Father, here it is. Romans 6, verse 5 through 7. For if we have been united in the likeness of his death, that's Jesus Christ's death. So when we are immersed and come out in that baptism ceremony, we certainly should also be in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this, that our old man or old woman was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin, for he who has died has been freed from sin. Verse 8. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we should also live with him, knowing that Christ has been raised from the dead, dies no more death, dies no more, death no longer has dominion over him.

For the death that he died, he died to sin once and for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. Verse 11, speaking to you, he says likewise, so he's speaking to the restored ex-tomb dweller, likewise you also reckon yourself to be dead indeed to sin. But alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord, therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey it in its lust. Stop there. Okay, so there it is. This is the new reality. Reckon yourself dead indeed to sin. This is sin's power. The method by which Jesus Christ solved this issue is to bring us into the death with him, united in the likeness of his death. You can look at yourself in that spiritual position, dead to the power and the appeal of sin. That's a big statement. The old tomb dweller is gone. You're now raised into verse five, resurrected to a new life. So this is the before and after contrast here. So dead to sin, dead to its power. When temptation hits, it's as if it's hitting a dead man or dead woman. There's no there's no response anymore. You're a new person. So this is where we are. You've been resurrected to a new life. It's not to say that the the the power, the battle between the flesh and spirit is still not there. It absolutely is raging. We know that. Paul's most noted description of that war. If you just turn one chapter forward, Paul goes into this. It's profound. Between the before and the after, we struggle between the before and the after here. Picture. We see this in Romans 7, verse 21 through 25. Here's the summary of it all. This is the tomb dweller's story. It's our story.

Romans 7, verse 21. I find then a law that evil is present with me. I still have those spiritual tombs. The one who wills to do good. But I still find this in me. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members working against the law of my mind. Bring me back into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. And here it is. Okay, we'll let it sit there. But then we say, O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of death? Who is it? We know. He says, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. That encounter in your life is the difference. Without that encounter, you're still a tomb dweller. No hope. You see, all of humanity today, so many today, are taking all sorts of chains and binding mechanisms to find the solution. All kinds of medications. I look at our young people. I deal with our young people a lot. So many are on medications to dull the anxiety, to escape. Those are today's chains. That's humanity's solution to these things. Because they don't have this hope. You do. You do. One day they will. And we pray for that soon day, that day coming. But today, these are the answers. Jesus Christ is the answer. He comes into your life and developing that relationship with Him and His Word.

There's an absolute war. We know that it still continues in our life. But the healed Christian, just like the demon-possessed man, can now approach this from a completely different viewpoint. We don't want to be marked. We don't have to be marked by defeat here. We can make progress in our lives. God doesn't do it for us. I've had some wonderful conversations with several of you. God allows us to participate in this. He's growing the fruit of the Spirit in us.

Sin knocks at our door. So now we acknowledge we have the power not to open it. And it's so difficult not to open to some of that old sin that's been with us for a while. What's your sin? Anger, pride. You fill in the blank there. It seems almost impossible to not open that door. Almost impossible. That's the key. Almost impossible. Because now we have this understanding.

So whenever I have some of that old tomb thinking come back into my experience, I have to just remind myself of who I am today. Sometimes I'll even say it verbally. Who am I? Who am I today? I'm not that old person anymore. I don't have to open that door. God's given me the power here. I've encountered. I have a new power living in me.

So we have to accept that. It's essential truth.

And it's so important for us to make progress. Bring it to God. Ask God to give you methods and means by which you can help overcome. There's some real tangible means. Change your patterns. Change your environment. Give yourself some time. All different kinds of means by which to overcome this. And you put forth that effort and God will bless your effort. And we have to make progress in this area. We have to because it's not just for us. There's an absolute reason that Jesus Christ has come to heal you today. And we see this reason revealed to the tomb dweller here.

Let's turn back to Luke 8, if you will, and we're going to work toward a conclusion here. Luke 8. And pick back up in verse 34. I want to show you that our healing ultimately is for the glory of God. And we're so thankful for the healing that that's why we go forward with a new purpose that Jesus Christ is about to reveal to this man. Our whole motivation for doing what we do is gratitude. You'll notice that grace and healing comes first. And then the acknowledgement here of what you are now to do. So God's, I mean, it's just so wonderful. He gives us the grace while we were still sinners. But now he has an expectation. You've been healed. This is what I want you to do. And we're driven by gratitude. Gratitude just moves us forward to live in this new experience. Because I want you to see the dramatic impact here. Chapter 8, verse 34 through 37, when those who fed the pigs saw what happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. Verse 35, then they went out to see what had happened and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus Christ. I would love to hear that conversation. Clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. So this group that came out and witnessed this, they were afraid. They also who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon-possessed was healed. Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region, the Gadarenes, asked him, that's Jesus Christ, to depart from them. For they were seized with great fear. And so he got into the boat and returned. This is interesting. So fear grips this crowd.

So all the time this man had been terrorizing them. Kids don't go near the graveyard. You know, you go to your school this way. You know, all of that. Hearing the cutting, all of it. They see now this healed man and they say to Jesus Christ, thank you. Thank you so much for that healing. No, they don't. They say, get out of here. Get out of here. What's that about? Well, what do we say? Well, we said, this is the human condition on full display. We resist the one who can save and deliver us. That's the summary of the human condition. We resist the one who can save and deliver us. And we were in that same posture until we had the encounter. God the Father sent his Son to us so that we could have a relationship with him and a new status, a new understanding open to us. Well, that's surprising. Look what happens next, verse 38 and 39. The man from whom the demons had departed begged him that he might be with Jesus Christ. That's understandable. But he sent him away saying, return to your own house and tell what great things God has done for you. And he went his way, proclaimed through the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him. We'll stop there. So he wanted to be with him, but he sends him away. But he doesn't just send him away. He sends him away with a specific purpose. And here it is. Tell what great things God has done for you. And he did so throughout the whole city. So this is the new commission. So why has Jesus Christ healed you? Why? What purpose this purpose? So through your actions, there's lots of eyes upon you every day, through your words, through those you have a particular influence with, through those of us sharing this worship service today. All of it. All of it is to speak to that you stand here freed by the grace of God through his son, Jesus Christ. So this was the tomb dweller story, and it's our story today. I was enslaved. He came and he delivered me. We all have this story. Living hopeless in darkened tombs until the day. Think back until that day. Was it such a dramatic? It was dramatic for me. Such a dramatic before and after picture. And I like to think back to that grace which was given to me, which I didn't deserve. Why did God send his son to us to open up a relationship? Why me? You could ask that. We have no idea, but he did. And so I'm driven by gratitude and love and appreciation. And we now are living sacrifices in everything to do, in everything we do to be a testament to this reality. This man would have been able to say, you know that man that was up in that tombs, he stands before you today. It's a wonderful story and it's all of our stories. So let's go forward today, just like this man. Healed tomb dwellers, making an impact for God the Father through his Son. Let's proclaim it throughout the whole city what great things he has done for us.