We want to deal with this issue about bondage. We are not referring to slavery in the classical sense, nor are we speaking of incarceration in the conventional sense. This is referring to bondage as an age-old spiritual problem. It puts us in a place where we cannot move closer to God. It puts us in a place where we have no joy... no peace... no love. It is as our parents used to say, "Way down yonder... all by myself. Can’t hear nobody praying." Some call it depression. Some call it the blues.

Have you been there?

Have you ever wondered if Jesus cares?

Have you ever felt so isolated and alone that you felt as if you were about to slip back into sin?

The unsaved are already under bondage. Some people in the church have experienced spiritual bondage.

• We come to church Sunday after Sunday.
• We sing the same old songs.
• We sit in the same old seats.
• We give that same dollar bill.
• We try to stop sinning, but that sin pattern keeps coming back to us. That is spiritual bondage.

In our text, we see a man in spiritual bondage. Demonic spirits controlled and empowered him.

Last night (Halloween) we had a Harvest Festival in the church. We did not want our children to go out dressed as ghosts, goblins, and Monica Lewinski. We want our children having fun in the house of God. We told them the truth about the true nature of Halloween. Demonic spirits are real. Some people say that they feel there is nothing wrong with their children celebrating "trick or treat." What they do not realize is the demons are real. We need to watch what our children do and where they go. If they were to walk down Willow Street knocking on all kinds of doors, you never know what they might encounter on the other side of those doors. You do not know what spirits they might be meeting. Do not send your children door to door, they will be in potential danger. You do not want them to become like the man in our text:

• For housing, he lived in a graveyard.
• For amusement, he cut himself.
• For conversation, he made long shrieks.
• For clothing, he ran around naked.

We do not necessarily do those things, but we do have demonic spirits influencing and oppressing us. We have:

• Spirits of anger
• Spirits of jealousy
• Spirits of hatred
• Spirits of lust

Therefore, this story has something for each of us who are in bondage to sin. Do you fly off the handle? Do you have jealous or anger?

Jesus, Who could command the wind and waves to be still, can also fix our lives. You do not have to live in bondage, you can be victorious in Jesus Christ. The community where the demon possessed man lived did not know what to do with him.

In verses 3-4, they tried to chain him down to control him with iron and steel. We do the same thing, really. We try to control those things in our lives that are wrong.

In the same manner, we try to control criminals with longer prison terms, with more police officers on the street, and with stricter judges. Still, crime keeps growing in our society. This shows us that you cannot imprison evil spirits.

Even in our lives, we try to control sin in our lives. We think we can clamp down and get control on it. However, the more you try to handle sin, the more sin controls you. You have to confess it and repent of it to get it out. Consecrate yourself. Then turn it over to God. Otherwise, it will keep coming back.

The people in our scripture text tried to chain the demon possessed man down. Nevertheless, the man simply broke the chains. The community wanted to isolate him, to hide him from the larger society.

In verse 3, we see that he did not live in town. He lived in a graveyard and in the wild hill country. We have problems with bondage but we do not deal with it. We try to cover it up. We think that if we put on a nice suit and designer clothes and a new pair of shoes that nobody will see your problems anymore. We put on a choir robe so people will think everything is okay. Some people think you can be vocal in the church and no one can tell. Did you realize that you could be vocal in the church and still go to Hell? You can serve on the board and go to hell. You can sing on the choir and go to hell. You can wear a new suit and still bust hell wide open.

You need to deal with that problem in your life. Get someone to pray for you, to help you overcome. We are so proud in the church, but the Bible says to confess your faults one to another.

There is another aspect to this separating and segregating. This demon possessed man had strange behavior. He made strange noises. He wore strange attire. All of these things served to drive people away from him.

Sometimes, people come into the church that do not look like the rest of us. They do not smell like the rest of us. They do not dress like the rest of us. They do not have the same skin color as the rest of us. We tend to want to put them in the back of the church. We try to tell them that maybe they are in the wrong church... we want to put them out of the church. We need to be careful to not be like the people in our scripture text. That community separated the man who did not act right.

I do not care how you look. If you love Jesus, you are my brother. I do not care how you smell. If you love Jesus, you are my sister. We are to be God’s house of hope, healing and wholeness. Some people will come to church with alcohol on their breath and in their clothing. Some people will come who do not wear "Sunday go to meeting clothes." They may have Goodwill clothing or Salvation Army clothing. Regardless, you need to wrap your arms around them and say, "Brother, sister, I love you." We are one body in Christ Jesus.

The people of the community saw the man fully clothed and in his right mind.

Jesus is still able to deliver us from the sin in our lives.

Jesus is still able to deliver us from sickness and death.

Jesus is still able to deliver us from demonic oppression.

Jesus is still able to pick us up and turn us around.

Jesus is still able to put bread on our table.

Jesus is still able to make a difference in our lives.

Jesus is still able to move us from defeat into victory.

Jesus is still able to make us more than conquerors.

Once you have been healed... once you have been delivered... you have a responsibility to share the good news.

In verse 17, we see that the man wanted to go with Jesus. He wanted to follow Jesus all of his life. However, Jesus said "No, go home to your friends and tell them what wonderful things God did for you."

If we don’t share it, nobody can be blessed from your testimony. Don’t shut up when testimony time comes. Don’t shut up when witnessing time comes. People don’t know about Jesus. We sit up here like we have been saved all our lives and as if we never had a problem. You had better tell somebody what God has done for you.

Tell someone that God can take you from the guttermost to the uttermost. If you are in prison, Jesus will set you free. We have to tell somebody that God is love. We need to tell them that I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore. Very deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more. But, the master of the sea heard my despairing cry. From the waters lifted me, now safe am I.