The call to evangelize

I want to talk to you about something very significant and it is the call to evangelize, the call to be evangelists. And I'm going to base my comment on Luke, chapter 8, verses 26 to 39. With this sermon I want to start what, with the Lord's help, will be a series making ourselves aware, as a congregation, about the imperative, the call, the commission, the obligation to be evangelists, to be witnesses of Jesus Christ, to also be as a church, as an institution, an evangelistically oriented church. Let me read the passage, it is long, and I feel that I must read it.

“…The disciples and Jesus arrived at the land of the Gadarenes which is on the opposite bank of Galilee and when he came ashore, a man from the city met him – interesting that he is from a city, perhaps like Boston, more small but comparatively at that time, a metropolis – long demonized…”

How many believe that demons are real? How many believe that hell is real? How many believe that Satan's work in the world is real? At least the Bible believes so. And Jesus had many encounters with the power of the devil, specifically Satan and his spirits. This is not a fiction, certainly not a creation of ignorant Pentecostals. The Bible clearly says that demons exist, demons are real, and all cultures of humanity, from Buddhists to Islamists, Hindus, Native American cultures here in the United States, Africa, indigenous cultures in Latin America, In all parts of the world through all the centuries, the different religions of the world that specialize in the spiritual area have believed and believe in the existence of spiritual beings called demons, Satan, their spirits that affect in a very powerful way and sometimes determining the course of nations and people, of individuals. And this man exemplified and exemplifies in this text a person under the power of Satan.

"... possessed for a long time, - and look at the effect of this pollution - he did not wear clothes or dwell at home but in the tombs..." where death is, where human decay is, where everything that reminds of the eternal is, dark, there he dwelt.

"... And when he saw Jesus, he gave a great cry and, falling at his feet, exclaimed in a loud voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?"

Look at something, this man is confessing, this demon, these spirits are confessing the lordship of Jesus Christ, his spiritual nature, Jesus, Son of the Most High God. Sometimes one believes that the demons do not recognize. The Bible says that demons believe and tremble. They know who Jesus Christ is. They know that God is Lord, they know that they are doomed to eternal damnation. And this man comes up and says:

“…“What do you have with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?” – not the man, but the spirits that are within him – “I beg you, do not torment me… – because he commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man, since it had taken possession of him a long time ago. And they tied him with chains and shackles but breaking the chains he was impelled - that is, he was pushed, he was forced by the devil - to the deserts - another place of death, of sterility.

The spirits look for places that are related to who they are, their nature and desert, tombs, darkness, darkness.

“…And Jesus asked him saying, “What is your name?” and he said, "Legion," because many demons had entered into him and begged Jesus not to send them into the abyss..."

What is that abyss? That is hell, it is the place of darkness. People think that Jesus Christ is too good to send anyone to hell. He doesn't send hell, people condemn themselves to hell. He did not make that place, God did not make that place for man, he did it for demons, the Bible says so. But unfortunately we have to go somewhere when we die. Our spirit is eternal and God does not simply turn it into scrap and undo it and pulverize it, the spirit that is in us is eternal and something must be done with it and there are two places, either we go to heaven or we go to hell, to the abyss , where the demons will be, where they legitimately dwell. They did not want to go prematurely to that place of imprisonment and terrible darkness and gloom.

“…that he did not send them to go into the abyss. There was a herd of many pigs there that were grazing on the mountain and they begged him to let them enter them… – Another place of affinity for demons, tombs, deserts, pigs that like mud, filth. They know that pigs were unclean to the Hebrews and there is something there in that relationship. – … and gave them permission…”

One wonders why the Lord had such condescension with these spirits. Those are the mysteries of the relationships of God and the powers of hell. There I think there is a lot of fabric to cut, but the fact was that the Lord granted them, not to get into another person, but into a herd of pigs.

"... And out of the man they entered the pigs and the herd rushed down a cliff into the lake and drowned..."

I would like to see a movie with that scene. I wouldn't like it but it would be awesome, this herd of pigs possessed by these demons jumping off a cliff. The image is terrible.

“…And those who were herding the swine, when they saw what had happened, fled and went and reported in the city and through the fields, and they went out to see what had happened and came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had come sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind…” Glory to the Lord.

They were afraid. Ask yourself why they were afraid when they saw this man clothed and in his right mind.

“…And those who had seen him told him how the demon-possessed man had been saved. Then all the crowd of the region around the Gadarenes begged him to leave them because they were very afraid…” – I would have invited him to stay in the city, with a gunman like that the city would have been safer. But no, they felt fear, terror of experiencing this strange situation, confrontation with demons, what that aroused in their soul, the sense of mystery, of not being in control, powers that complicate people's minds. Now his world has gotten a little more complicated and more mysterious and his reaction is, “We don't want this. We don't want that, so get out of here, we want to continue our simple life, our simplistic life so go somewhere else.”

“…And Jesus, getting into the boat, turned around and the man from whom the demons had come out begged him – look how interesting – to let him be with him, but Jesus dismissed him saying, “Go back home and tell how great things you have done.” made God with you." And he was publishing all over the city how great things Jesus had done with him.”

Glory to the Lord. Those last two verses could be the foundation of our meditation this morning. The Lord calls us to tell of the great things that he has done in our lives and to publish everywhere the things that the Lord has done with us.

As I was saying, we are preparing to start our… it is not an evangelistic campaign, and I said evangelistic strategy, but this morning I meant our life, our evangelistic existence as a church. Because? Because we have felt from the Lord, I have felt from the Lord a lively zeal as the Bible says, for committing ourselves before the Lord as a church to an existence as evangelists. Our church has an evangelistic orientation and we are taking steps in that direction because it is not something that we are going to do for a month, it is not like we are going to do an evangelistic campaign. No. This, brothers, I want you to define our life as a congregation from now on, an evangelistic lifestyle, an existence as a church that places evangelism at the very center of our life as an institution and as a body.

As I have told you, we have spent 20 plus years building buildings and God has given us a very beautiful physical plant in which many things can be done. We have halls of all sizes, there are and will be, it is a very beautiful place in the middle of the city and very functional, with many spaces to do many things in a strategic place in the city. It has cost us a lot of work and a lot of money, and you have been part of that wonderful miracle with your generosity towards God and towards the Kingdom.

But it can't all be just setting up physical locations. The physical places are simply a platform, they are a space for something to be done with them and we want to use these things that God has allowed us to create to proclaim the Gospel. And now the platform is mounted and we have to use it. With those energies that we had had to dedicate to physical construction, we now want to reinvest them in carrying out the evangelistic call. The energies have been distracted, not distracted but invested in physical construction work.

But I feel that now we have to find another motivation that is true, and that is the reason why churches and the church of Jesus Christ exist, is to proclaim the lordship of Christ in the nations. say amen It is to declare that Christ is Lord, that he has the solution to man's problems, that he is and always will be the Son of God, the savior of humanity. And that is our reason for being. And I want us to spend the next few years of our lives exploring how to do that and because it's such a big thing we have to take time to build the platform. And that is why we are in a process of reflection, I am announcing these purposes from time to time, we have begun to preach.

But today I feel like it is for me the beginning of another step in that direction. We have already had a consultation with congregational leaders about some ideas and possibilities. I have been reflecting a lot and taking notes. We are taking steps that you may not be aware of, but know that all this machinery is beginning to move to bring forth a truly evangelistic church and these talents and gifts and energies that God has allowed us to use to build these buildings, the we want to invest now in a much more concentrated way in the salvation of souls. And you are necessary for that.

And this morning I am declaring that in a more intentional way and I am beginning this series of sermons because I want to awaken in us, in you and in me as well, that commitment to be evangelists and to be witnesses of Jesus Christ. Because people think that well, the pastor will take care of that, he will simply preach evangelistic sermons and he will make a call every Sunday and the people will convert and that's it. No, actually you are the evangelists. I also have to do my part. The Bible says, I think it was Timothy, do evangelism. Pastors also have to be evangelists. I have my share but in reality I am very limited in what I can do, but you are the leaven in this city, you are in the workplaces, in the schools, in the neighborhoods, on the trains, your friends, your relatives, you are salt of the earth. You are grains of salt in the whole community, you are leaven inserted in the dough of the city, called to declare the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Amen.

In your conversations, in your homes, in your neighborhood, with your neighbor, with your friends, to be a witness of Jesus Christ. And that's why God put… I had another sermon in my mind regarding this subject, but this morning my life became, as sometimes happens, more complicated because instead of using something that I already had, but the The Lord made very clear, for some reason, the image of the Gadarene to begin this meditation, because they illustrate many of the things that the Lord has spoken to me that should characterize our life and our evangelistic strategy, some of the elements that should be part of our evangelistic identity. And we are going to see some of them to better understand this call.

The first thing I see here is Jesus Christ and his disciples active in evangelism. We see them traveling from Galilee, crossing that great lake of Genesareth to go to the other side, to a city called Gadara, hence the demonic Gadarene. It was a city. There were a number of cities there in that area, ten cities of Greek influence and the Lord goes to Gadara. Why are you going there? Because it will evangelize. The ministry of Jesus Christ is an itinerant ministry, it was not an office, he did not have an office where people came to ask questions and from there send people to do things... no, he lived moving from one place to another. It was an itinerant ministry and he went from city to city preaching the word and announcing the coming of the Kingdom of God and his person as the Son of God, the promised Messiah.

And they are moving from one place to another carrying the word, and in that effort to carry the word they find this man, or rather he meets them. Because it is that when you move, when you are diligent in evangelism, God is going to bring opportunities into your life, God is going to put you in a position to preach the Gospel, but you have to want to be an evangelist, you have to want opportunities, you have to pray for opportunities, you have to look for those opportunities. And when you do your part, God does his.

Every day God puts opportunities in our way, on the train someone comes up, sits down and starts a conversation with us and we know we have 4, 5 or 6 minutes. It is important that we ask the Lord, “Lord, give me the opportunity,” even if it is just invite them to church and there a conversation about Jesus Christ can spark. In your work, there are people who have problems and difficulties of all kinds and you drink tea with them and sometimes you eat with them, we are there secretly while we talk with that person asking the Lord, "Lord, open his heart, open his mind so that provide me with an entrance into your life.”

Because you also have to be wise, you have to be prudent, you have to be responsible. By the way, I tell you, if you are being paid to work, do not use your work time to preach the Gospel. Do not undress a saint to dress another. We have to be responsible in our work. And we also live in an environment hostile to the Gospel and we don't want to create animosity unnecessarily either. Take advantage of legitimate opportunities to tell others about Jesus Christ. And in your heart ask the Lord, “Father, awaken in me a hunger and a need to share your word with others and make me a person of energy and evangelistic anointing, make it easy for me, I am not easy with words,” tell the Lord. “I don't have that ease that others have. I am intimidated by the idea of preaching to others about the Lord Jesus Christ, but give me the courage, give me the anointing, give me the opportunities.” Pray in your house so that God… that is what I am doing, brothers, for our congregation and asking myself for wisdom to lead you and for our being to be filled with a sense of calling.

And if you ask the Lord and if you make evangelism something central in your life, God will provide you with opportunities to do so, but you have to mobilize, you have to be attentive. The Lord, his life was evangelism and he trained the disciples, wherever we see him talking to them, giving them ideas, giving them feedback after experiences, sending them on evangelistic learning missions, but the Lord moved, he knew that was his purpose of being. He needed others to come to him.

The Bible says that the Son of man needs to be lifted up before the eyes of men so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. As Moses says, he picked up the bronze serpent in the desert, when he was dying from snake bites and this serpent God said to Moses, “Make a bronze serpent, put it on a high place so that everyone who looks at the serpent will heal instead of dying poisoned.” And Moses did so and the Lord remembered that image and said, "So it is necessary that I be lifted up before the eyes of men because men are being bitten by serpents, so that when they look at me, they will be saved."

The call of Christ to our lives is that, to lift up Jesus at all times, in all places in wise ways, in intelligent ways, even with our own lives, more important than everything. That's why we have to strive to live lives that justify the preaching of the Gospel, that's why we have to be consistent in the way we live so that the world says, wow, I want what that person has. And that person has the authority to speak to me, because I see the fruit of the Holy Spirit in his life.

But we see that the call is very important, in Matthew 28:19 we see when the Lord gives his great commission, before leaving this earth the Lord calls them, gathers them together and tells them, "All power is given to me in heaven and on earth therefore… – make big and beautiful churches and stay there on Sundays and worship me. No. – … therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in him in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, commanding them to observe all the things that I have taught you. Behold, I am with you always until the end of the world."

Do you know who Jesus Christ is with? With those who evangelize. That is why he says, behold, as a consequence I am with you, don't worry, I will be helping you. When you conceive a call to evangelize the Lord says, I am with you. Do you know why God doesn't bless more churches and anoint them with his spirit and pour out his gifts? Because why, if they are not doing anything, why give them the gifts. The gifts are to evangelize. The gifts are to do the work of God. God blesses the churches that make people work.

Do you want to understand what is the power of the Gospel? begin to spread the word evangelism in your life. Speak, invite people to come to the Kingdom of God and share your testimony, share the word. We are going to be, with the help of the Lord, also teaching and giving instructions on how to share a testimony, how to evangelize others. This is all part of the process we want to follow.

In Acts, chapter 1 verse 8 we also see there that the Lord before his departure tells his disciples, "And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Samaria, in Judea, and to the ends of the earth."

You are going to witness me in Hyde Park, in Jamaica Plain, in Boston, in Massachusetts, in New England, in the United States, in all the earth, in your country, wherever you go, to the ends of the earth, I I'm going to make you an evangelist, a witness. That is what the Lord wants us to be first of all, witnesses of his resurrection and witness of his power and lordship.

The first disciples were chosen to be witnesses of what they had seen and heard. Peter says, "What we have seen and heard we announce to you." The disciples were first of all witnesses, we are first of all witnesses. We are supposed to testify everywhere to what we have experienced as believers in Jesus Christ, to bring others to the knowledge of Jesus.

Are you a teacher, are you a social worker, are you a housewife, do you work in a Boston factory, do you drive a taxi, do you drive a bus, do you sell something somewhere, do you drive a truck? All those things represent opportunities to preach the Gospel, to be a witness. God continually puts you in places and the Lord is looking for people to testify of Jesus Christ and you don't have to be a theologian, you don't have to be a graduated preacher, talk about your testimony, talk about what God has done in your life, how God has transformed him, how God has changed him. We can all say something about what God has done in our lives. Yes or no?

Some of us God has healed, others He has freed us from depression, others He has literally freed us from the power of demons and darkness, others He has transformed us emotionally, some He has healed our marriages, others He has brought us out of misery and poverty, others have freed us from death at some point, or have healed us from some extreme disease. Something God has done in your life, use that as a weapon, use that as an instrument. That people can tell many things that you tell them, but they cannot argue with what God has done in your life. If you preach it in a humble, simple, natural way, this is what God did in my life, I invite you to give the Lord a try, try Jesus, give him an opportunity for you to see how he is going to change your life .

So, we see that the Lord and his disciples were constantly on the move. And it is one of the issues that we as a church have to ask the Lord to make each one of us people with an evangelistic urgency, an evangelistic identity and an activity and a life. There is nothing more beautiful than being a worker of the Lord. May you be anything else but you are also a worker of the Lord.

My sister Fany, I put her in trouble for a moment, because I have contact with her, I know her quite well, for many years, she is a teacher in the Boston Department of Schools and she is a woman who takes many opportunities in her work to be salutary. from the land, to her students, to their parents, to talk to them about… because she has contact with a lot of people. I know that many of us also have opportunities to show the goodness of Jesus Christ. So let's be active and alert and asking the Lord for anointing for evangelism.

Another thing that we see here in this passage is the condition of those that we have to evangelize. This man is possessed by a demon, he is totally possessed by the powers of darkness. His condition is tremendously painful. And perhaps the people we encounter every day are not in such a terrible condition, they are not foaming at the mouth or rolling their eyes in their head sockets, but they are just as dominated under the authority and domination of Satan.

A person does not have to be totally demonized to be legally, judicially under the power of darkness. What's more, the spirits don't care that much, they are too smart for people to go around like those zombie movies in the streets full of zombies everywhere, all full of the devil. No, he is much more subtle than that. In the great places of authority in the world, in the great universities, in the great corporations, in the places of law and business, academia, the media, in Hollywood, in different parts of this world there are people who are under power. of Satan although they do not express it that way as the demoniac expressed it.

Satan only cares about you going to hell and if he can send you on an ocean liner on a tourist tour to go to hell, he doesn't care. The important thing is that in the end he has your soul and how he gets you there doesn't matter, whether it's with a gun killing people or stealing, or giving money to philanthropy, he doesn't care. What matters to him is that your soul is lost and that you do not receive Christ as your Lord and savior.

In this world there are many first class people who dress up in very expensive suits every day, but they are under the power of Satan. They are going to go to hell because they do not have Jesus Christ because the only thing that saves the human being is the work that Jesus did on the cross of Calvary where he paid for the sins of all of us and then the one who signs under that work that Christ did in the cross can participate in the benefit of what he did, but otherwise that person is simply left to his own resources to enter heaven. And no one can get into heaven on their own because no one is perfect enough to do so. It has to be the perfection of another who is Jesus.

Then all humanity that is not under Christ Jesus is under the power of hell, so says the word. The only thing about this man was that he was possessed in such an obvious way for some reason that his life manifested that, his clothes were rags, he lived in the graves, he had supernatural strength, his mind was totally possessed, he howled like a wild animal and It's like a graphic illustration of what life under the power of Satan is like, but that's it, it's an extreme. But from that extreme there are thousands of variants of being and living under the authority of the enemy.

Our cities are under the power of the enemy. There are people at home who are depressed, anxious, their lives are a mess and they are under the lordship of Satan and they don't know it and they need someone with the power and anointing of Jesus Christ to show them the way, pray for them, declare the lordship of Christ over your life, break your spiritual chains. That is the church.

God has designed a very simple system, there are people in need, there is a person who is Christ Jesus who has the power, and there are intermediaries who are you and me, who announce that they go to Christ and get what they need to receive their healing in their lives. And we have to do our part.

But the world, says the Bible, is under the lordship of Satan. Since Adam and Eve sinned and man has been in a process of continuous degeneration. Today in the 21st century as never before, societies have turned away from the protection that only Jesus Christ can offer. A world without Christ is what we saw when Christ came to earth 2000 years ago, a world in darkness, a world of paganism, a world of idols, a world of slavery, a world of total wars everywhere. Today, the humanity that has separated from Christ and from God as much as that humanity that Christ encountered in the year 0, 2000 years ago or more, was separated, humanity is now worse off than that time ago.

We have vaccines and we have computers and we have rockets that go to the moon, but man's condition is worse than at that time. There are wars and rumors of war, there is terrorism everywhere, there is neurosis, there is division of families, there is addiction to drugs, there is unbridled sensuality, there is dissatisfaction in nations, the family is deteriorating, parents do not know what to do with their children.

Do you think that is civilization? It's a civilization on the surface, but the Gadarene is just as demon-possessed as it was when Jesus encountered it 2,000 years ago. The condition of man… go to our cities. Someone was telling me that he visited a part of the city recently here in Boston and was surprised that every corner of 4 corners of two intersecting streets, there was a cross and an offering for someone who had been killed in that neighborhood. He says that the neighborhood was full of flowers and offerings of flowers by young people who had been murdered in this city.

Why does that happen in one of the most civilized cities on earth like Boston? Because the possessed person has no one to tell him, see, or if he does, what happens is that they are also rejecting him. But we have to announce. There are many people in this city who need, who just need someone to tell them that Christ is the solution.

And we also want to be… one of the things that I am asking the Lord is to make us the type of congregation and community that when people come here they feel welcome. And we have to be part of that process. One of the things we have to do is be a hospitable church, if someone comes and asks you to step aside in your seat to pass, make sure you do it with a very smiling face, not like now I have to stand like if you were in a cinema and they are bothering you. This is the house of the Lord.

And we too, if you have to pass someone, you don't know who you are asking to let you pass, do it with a smile. When the service is over, greet someone and say, God bless you, instead of turning to the person you know best. If there is a mother who is having a problem with her little boy, let's do everything possible, maybe an usher can come and say, “Look, we can take you,” but you don't roll your eyes at her, don't pout and start criticizing her. . I have heard of people who have said to young mothers, "You better stay home." We have to be much more careful with that, we have to be very careful because we want to be a church.

If a person comes with a situation of homosexuality, alcoholism, drugs, poorly dressed, stinky, whatever, hold your nose and put on a good face and welcome the Lord. Let's be a generous church. Let's not look at people's sins, let's first look at our own sins and forget about making judgment. Just introduce Christ, let Christ take care of them, because if we're going to bring the people… God is not going to send the people to be harmed by a self-righteous, hateful church, full of gossip and conflicts and people. that he has not had a true encounter with Jesus Christ. People say, that's why I stay at home better.

If we are going to be an effective evangelistic church, we have to be a church that exemplifies the best values of the Kingdom of God. And that starts with you and me. We have to ask Him, “Lord, sanctify me, deal with me, help us to be a generous church, a church where harmony is in the air when people come in, where the presence of the Lord can dwell in comfort.” We have to be that kind of congregation.

The world is demonized. Evangelistic preaching is spiritual warfare. That is something the Lord has spoken to me as well. One of the things that I feel that our evangelistic message should have a theme, a theme, is precisely that Christ breaks the chains of Satan. Christ breaks the domain of the enemy. Christ drives away darkness, Christ makes man free.

Christ said, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." You know that evangelizing is spiritual warfare. Christ is the only one who can stand up to the powers of the devil, that is why God sent him, that is why nations without Jesus Christ can never hope to succeed in their fight against war, violence, poverty, hunger , crime, human dysfunction, because all these things come from the powers of Satan and only Jesus can face the powers of darkness, that is why the Lord sent Christ into the world to defeat the power of the devil.

He came to undo the works of the devil, says the word. And the Gospel has to be presented as the solution to Satan's hegemony in the world and in societies, in cultures, in families, in the lives of individuals, in homes, in neighborhoods, in the streets. We have to present Christ as the solution to problems.

That's why this passage captivated me, when God put it in my mind, because it coincided with that idea that God has given me that we have to preach the Gospel in terms of spiritual warfare. It's not like we're going to be talking about demons everywhere. No, we have to do it in an intelligent way, but we have to know that the background is that.

The Bible says that our fight is not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers, against the darkness that is in the air that governs culture and governs the economy of this world, and Jesus Christ is the solution on a collective and individual level.

It is interesting, first of all, that here we see an evangelism that is given in terms of first freeing the person from the power of the devil, freeing him, breaking his chains, making possible a normal and abundant life through the power of Jesus. What power does Jesus have that these demons are impelled to come before Jesus, it is not even that the Lord calls them, it is as if he with his power forced them to come before him in chains. What do you have with us, Jesus, Son of the most high God? They are compelled to reveal their condition and their action because there is so much power in Jesus Christ.

And look how they acknowledge the lordship of Christ. They know they have no choice. They have to get out. And then they tell him, look, let us even if it is not to go into the abyss, send us this herd. There is a mystery there, I do not have the answer to all that mystery. Why send them to a… and what happened to those pigs afterward and what happened to them when the pigs died? The Bible does not give us answers to everything. I have my guess but that doesn't matter right now.

The important thing is that Satan is real. I have had so many experiences through 30 years of pastoral ministry with people in this very congregation who manifest the presence of demonic powers in their lives and who are released by the power of Jesus Christ. I think I can say, without being wrong, that there has never been a confrontation with a demon in my pastoral life, that the person was not freed, because Christ has the power. I always think so.

I will never settle for a person who says, “You know what? We've tried…” There have been sometimes days where I've had confrontations not 24 hours a day, 3 days, but in different sessions and finally those powers have had to go. The demon is real. Satan is real, brothers. A very logical and very coherent, very thoughtful person tells him. I am not believing in all the things that I see out there and all the myths and all that. I have seen a lot in this world and I can tell you that the presence of the devil and hell is something very real and true and the church needs to understand this.

The risks are serious, hell is real and we have to buy insurance, not even buy it, get it and it is the insurance that Christ provides, his blood, his work. What will become of our eternity? Where do we go after we die? It is the most important question that a man or a woman can ask themselves. What will be your eternal destiny? When your body separates from your soul, when you took your last breath and your career here in life is over, where are you going to go for all eternity? That is the most important question of all questions, and the devil spends a lot of time trying to prevent people from asking that question, entertaining them with all kinds of activities and pleasures so that one day he won't be confronted with the question.

Think about what eternity is and what your life is here now, 70, 80 years compared to eternity, something that does not end. Your life here on earth is not even the blink of an eye compared to eternity and millions of souls will go to eternity without Christ, without salvation because no one spoke to them and since they were under the power of Satan here, they will be under the power of from Satan in eternity as well. That is terrible to think about and each person has to make their peace with God through Jesus Christ and we have to announce that message with great urgency.

There is nothing more important in this world. Moreover, if I understood the magnitude of what I am saying, brothers, I believe that I would not eat while announcing the Gospel. It is because in his mercy God kind of tempers the sense of urgency a little. What is more important in this world than helping a soul to be saved from hell? What could be more important than that? there isn't.

I ask the Lord to fill me with a sense of despair to do his work here on earth in our remaining years as a congregation or personally. I have told you that the Gospel is spiritual warfare and I told you this morning that I am not believing in all... I do not see the devil even in the soup, like some people out there, but I know, I have had experience with the powers of the devil and I know it's real.

And this morning when we enter here all this question of sound and all this problem of sound, it is because... I have understood that, that when Satan is spoken of, the demons wake up and try to do harm. They can't but try. And they try to provide obstacles and complications and make life difficult and take away peace. That is its effect. We have rarely had as much trouble with the sound system as we did this morning.

It is interesting that before the Lord finds this demoniac, if you read the passage before that, there is a storm. When they go to Gadara a storm arises in the sea. There it is, in the previous verses, it says that “…while they were sailing he fell asleep and a storm of wind arose on the lake and they were drowned and in danger…”

Because? I believe there is a connection, because the powers of the devil know when someone is going to a place and let me tell you that those victories over the demonic Gadarene have given men a lot of material throughout the centuries to meditate on the lordship in power. of Christ over the darkness. I think that hell knew what was going to happen in Gadara and annoyed with them, he did everything possible and unleashed a storm to see if he could prevent them from reaching Gadara, but they did not remember that the Lord was inside the boat. And when the disciples come in fear, "Master, Master, we are perishing." The Lord is peacefully sleeping on the boat and says that "...waking up he rebuked the wind and the waves and they ceased and there was calm..." Hallelujah!

You know that we also have to prepare ourselves, when a church is doing works of effective evangelism and is bringing souls to the knowledge of Jesus Christ and is denouncing and exposing the work of the devil in society, in cultures, in individuals, there will be reprisals and there is going to be a counterattack from the enemy and he is going to try to do everything possible, so if we are going to do this we have to ask the Lord, “Lord, cover us with the blood of your Son, cover us with a spirit of holiness and integrity.” so that he has nothing to take advantage of.” And we have to pray, we have to cry out to the Lord, we have to protect our church, we have to pray for our leaders, we have to pray for understanding so that the Lord will keep us.

Because this is a distraction that's all, harassment, this is just a mild distraction, with no ultimate consequences, but it's what happens. When a sermon is going to be delivered that unmasks the enemy and brings to light what he truly does and how he is, and I rebuke him in the name of Jesus he tries to do harm. Cover me with the blood of Christ, brethren, pray for me as the leader of this main congregation, brethren. I beg you in the name of Jesus to take seriously your prayer for me, my wife, my family, my home and I ask it as a favor. And let us also cover the rest of the leaders and our congregation because if God allows us to be effective in what we are going to undertake, there will be counterattacks and in the name of the Lord we place everything under the blood and covering of Christ.

You don't have to fear, but you don't have to be careless. The Bible says, "Be sober and watchful because your adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." If you are doing the work of God, the enemy will want to do harm in your life and there will be confrontation, because evangelism is spiritual warfare, it is confrontation with the powers of Satan, it is looting the hosts of the enemy, it is snatching souls and he is not happy when that is done.

And then we have to ask the Lord to give us strength, to give us courage, to give us wisdom and purify us and defend us from all enemy attacks. We have to show society, the people out there, your marital problems, your emotional problems, your family problems, many times not always your health problems, your material problems, sometimes they have an element, not always, but many Sometimes they have a demonic element. The devil does not want you to enter into the abundance of life that Christ has made possible.

And while you are without protection he serves himself with the big spoon, your family, your children, your health, your spiritual life, your marriage, and society as well. I ask the Lord that the day will come when entire nations recognize that they need Christ and that their rulers, their presidents, their prime ministers, gather the nation and through the media say, "This nation is subject to the claims Christ Jesus as Lord and we ask that he come in and transform our culture, our economy, our society, our children.” Listen to me, I believe that there would be changes in those nations if there were truly God-fearing men and women who understood what spiritual warfare is and what it is to summon the power of God and heaven to favor and bless, and bring progress to a nation , to a society, and bring enlightenment and wisdom to its leaders so that there can be true progress in the nations.

We have to ask the Lord to give us the wisdom to do this, because it is spiritual warfare, it is to disconnect nations and societies and cities from the power of the devil and connect it with the transforming power of Christ Jesus. That is evangelistic, brothers. That is spiritual warfare. And Christ is the only one who has the power and authority to snatch souls from the devil, as he snatched it from this Gadarene.

The last thing I leave with you, two little things, the condition of this man after Christ intervenes, he says that this man who was before... screaming for the tombs, dwelling in the tombs totally crazy, neurotic, totally deranged, a human rag, he says that now they saw him dressed and in his right mind. The change in this man was so great that people were afraid, they were not even astonished, they were afraid, this man had spent years and nobody... knows anything? What is the only thing they could do? Bind this man with chains and not even with that.

One of the things that I see in this city right now, in Boston and I see it throughout the United States, the devil, the highest capacity that any society has had to affect the behavior of societies is this, the 21st century and without yet completely powerless to improve his condition of the people.

When Meche and I came here to church this morning, as always every Sunday, there was a crowd of people, not only wandering, homeless, because that would be minor to a certain extent, but one sees the corruption in their hearts and in their minds, many of them are tied to vice, and alcohol, sex, drugs, neurosis, rebellion, violence, that is what is seen in the shelters, in the city shelters. The city has no power to change the condition of these people, these people are too advanced in their deterioration. What's more, the church needs a special anointing from Jesus Christ to free these people, brothers, because they are already so far gone, I am not saying that many of them are all, but those who are in these most advanced conditions, only divine intervention can change the fate of those people.

Society cannot, brothers, change the boys who are in the bargains killing each other. They don't have the power. All they have is jails to put them in, that's all. You know that imprisonment is the great scandal of this nation. The United States incarcerates more people than any other nation in the world by far. The only thing they can do is chain them, put them in jail, they can't do anything else. Millions of dollars are thrown at him by the Department of Social Services and the Department of Public Health. The Department of Public Health the only thing that teaches is lesbianism, homosexuality, they do well up to a certain point but they are places controlled by the gay culture. Many of those who are, and I am even afraid to say this in public, but it is the reality, brothers. The Boston Department of Public Health is greatly affected, influenced by the homosexual culture because they know that this is a strategic place and I know that there are a lot of good people there and that a lot of good is done, but the system will never be able to deal with the conditions, the needs of this society.

The Departments of Children and Family alike, are not coping, nothing is changing in this society. Because? Because the only thing they can do for the possessed is to put him in jail, control him, give him a drug so that he dies and walk around all dazed so that he doesn't do any harm, doesn't have the strength to do any harm, like so many people, or give him another drug, which replaces the drug they use so they don't have to kill to get it, but they're still high. Because the Gadarene demoniac only a change from within can change his condition and only Christ has that answer, brothers. The only thing is a change of heart, a change of mind.

And society, the church has to provide. When this man has an encounter with Jesus Christ and the doors of his prison are opened from the inside, he becomes lucid to recognize the claims of Jesus Christ and that is what we have to do. Father, teach us how to bring our culture to Christ Jesus and to be clothed and sane at the feet of Jesus.

And the last thing I tell you is that here is the key to this whole sermon. This man when he experiences for the first time perhaps in decades the well-being that comes when Christ is at the center and all his emotions and all his faculties are revolving in order like planets around his sun, and he can for the first time feel peace in his heart and compute like a normal healthy man, what does he want to do? He wants to stay with Jesus Christ, "Lord, let me be before you and with you all the days of my life, I want to go with you." But the Lord tells him, “No, there is something even more important. Go and tell your relatives, your friends, your neighbors, how great things God has done for you.”

That is what we have to do, brothers. The Sunday service is very nice, there is good music, a warm place, quite comfortable chairs, quite decent people, a sermon more or less, but that is not the resting place for us. If all we do is come to church and report from Sunday to Sunday and get on spiritual methadone to last us the week and come back next Sunday, we've missed the real point. You come to church to get stronger. You come to church to prepare. You come to church to educate yourself. You come to church to be healed. You come to the church to obtain weapons and resources so that you can announce the truths of the one who brought you out of darkness into his admirable light.

We come here to be trained, to be healed of our wounds, yes, but so that the possessed person may be freed and so that we then have more resources to announce what great things God has done with us. That is the raison d'etre. Lord, how good, here is Elijah, here is Moses, and here you are, we are going to make three tents and stay here on the mount of transfiguration and the Lord tells him, "No, we have to go down because down there there is a father with a demon-possessed son and you have to heal him, you have to free him.”

God did not make us to always bask in his presence and celebrate how good he is to us. It is that we share the truth with others and bring others to the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

I want to leave you that challenge this morning, I want to encourage you in it in the name of Jesus. Stand up and receive a call from God right now and I want to invite if there is anyone this morning who feels the desire to receive Jesus as Lord and savior and to place their lives under the coverage and protection of Jesus Christ, their family, your body, your life, your economy, I invite you to raise your hand because I want to pray for you this morning.

There will be someone who invites Jesus into their heart. Let's bow our heads for a moment and think about my calling and pray for someone that God will allow that person to receive Christ. If you want to receive Jesus and want to invite him to control your life and rule over your family, over your body, over your emotions, if you know that you need the only one who can give you a solution to your needs, I invite you to raise your hand now. in the in the name of Jesus. If you haven't done it before, a sister back there, another sister here too, this is spiritual warfare, it takes courage.

We complain and complain and want solutions but there is a price to pay. If you don't do your part, God won't do his. The Lord Jesus Christ says, "If you confess me before men, I will confess you before my Father." It means that if you don't confess it before men, he won't confess it to you. There is something in this process of confessing Christ, saying, no, I am a follower of Jesus and before demons and before men I recognize that Christ Jesus is my Lord and my savior. That has power, that breaks chains, that works changes in a person's life.

You have to humble yourself, you have to take that step and if you say no, it's no. if you remain silent, if you don't do what you have to do, you are saying no, understand that well. You are refusing to do something that God is calling you to do. In fact those hands please raise up.

I would like to pray for you, where you are, if someone who raised their hand wants to come forward, I invite you to do so, but just hold your hand up this morning and believe. I release in the name of Jesus every person to do what God calls you to do right now. If there is resistance from the devil, Satan I bind you in the name of Jesus and I declare freedom in this holy place, Lord, may the purposes of Christ be accomplished. May souls come to the knowledge of Jesus. Break chains, Father, break obstacles in their minds and set them free so they can receive.

Father, we declare that your word will run like a river in this city. Many will come to the feet of Jesus Christ, entire families, decent people, noble people, well-behaved people, prosperous people will come because they will recognize that no matter how well they do, without Christ they are lost and those who are in need, humble and simple people too their lives will be lifted, they will be trained, they will be prosperous, they will be enlightened, they will see the glory of God in their families. And Father, we ask that you make us effective witnesses of the transforming and regenerating work of Jesus of Nazareth. Make us witnesses, Lord, efficient, that the transformation that took place on the day of Pentecost, when those frightened men and women became evangelistic lions, may this also happen in our church, the Lion of Judah, Father. May your lion here in Boston roar with the same effectiveness with which it roared before the demons that imprisoned this man, Lord.

We embrace the evangelistic call, we embrace your invitation to be witnesses wherever we go. Release our mouths, release our feet, release our resources, release our spiritual anointing. Give us courage and effectiveness and passion and authority to preach the Gospel, to live lives that support our position as evangelists.

Lord, open up your heaven and pour out rain, pour out power, pour out authority, pour out understanding, Holy Spirit reaches out to those here and far away this morning, Lord, we unleash evangelistic power. Father, we declare that souls are set free, young people are released to consider the claims of Jesus. Single mothers, married couples, professionals, homeless people, workers are liberated, their minds cleared. We release the power of God over those lives and bind the powers of Satan.

Devil, we rebuke you in the name of Jesus. We announce that Christ came to undo your works. Christ came to rescue souls. You have no power over the souls that God sent his son to redeem. I bless my sister, here ahead.