Over and over, scripture testifies to the power of the spoken word.  In the beginning, God spoke the universe into existence.  The spoken words of Jesus healed the sick, raised the dead, and drove stubborn demons out of men and women.  In the Book of Jeremiah, we are told, “Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, ‘Now, I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant’” (Jer. 1:9-10).  As Jeremiah openly declared the word of the Lord over nations and kings, spiritual forces were set in motion to raise up kings and depose them, establish nations and destroy them.  Proverbs affirms, “The tongue has the power of life and death” (Prov. 18:21).  We could go on and on quoting scriptures that declare we have the power to bless and to curse through the proclamation of our words.  In short…our spoken words matter.  They have power.  They make a difference.

In the Book of Revelation, we are told, “For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of theirtestimony” (Rev. 12:10-11).  Speaking of the saints, we are told they overcame the enemy, by the sacrificial blood of Jesus and by the words they spoke.  The words we speak, our testimony, is an essential part of winning the battle against Satan.  What we speak informs both the world and the spiritual realm where we stand and established God’s truth over circumstances. 

Our first testimony, of course, is that we believe Jesus is the Son of God who died for our sins and was raised to life on the third day. Our continuing testimony is to declare publicly what we know to be true…not only about Jesus but about God, his sovereignty, his righteous standards and his judgments.  We are to testify to God’s word and truth as we resist the things that push back against God’s will in this world.  When we speak life, truth, and victory over people and circumstances, our words set spiritual forces in motion to accomplish what we have declared.  The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit and when we speak his word, that word becomes a weapon in the spiritual realm.

But here is the rub. We live in a culture that no longer believes in absolute truth. It no longer believes that a divine standard of right and wrong exists by which nations and people will be judged. We often hear the phrase, “personal truth,” which means that every man does what he wants without reference to any other standard. Judges 21:25 speaks of a time when Israel had no king and “every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”  That was not a season of God’s favor. 

From that perspective, truth changes with the times, with the culture, with our emotions, and with circumstances. Many claim they are “evolving,” which means their view of truth keeps shifting with the tide. To give into that premise, undermines the very foundations of law, ethics, and faith.  How can law deliver justice when there is no sure definition of what is just?  How can faith stand against assaults if we are unsure of the ground on which we stand? 

Part of the angst of our younger generations is that they don’t know where to stand or what to believe. They have nothing certain on which to base their lives and decisions. Their compass has no true north. Men may no longer be men and women may no longer be women. The definition of marriage which has stood for thousands of years has now become a fluid word with no certain meaning. Morality is relative and shifts with public opinion. So, when we vote for a president, character doesn’t matter anymore because no one can define it. “Personal truth” allows politicians and news services to manufacture their version of “the truth” at will and dispense it as if it were as certain as 2+2=4. 

In our generation, it almost seems quaint, naïve, and unenlightened to even discuss the notion of absolute right and wrong or actual moral standards for a society. But once you cut yourself loose from the moorings of a God in heaven who establishes truth, right and wrong, sin and righteousness, and who will judge the world on the basis of those standards, good will certainly be called evil and evil will be declared good.

The church used to be viewed as the conscience of the nation.  Sin was called out in the pulpits and people were called to repentance…even national leaders or the nation itself were subject to admonition. In those days, the church testified to the word of God, the standards of God, right and wrong, sin and righteousness.  Children were taught those standards in school and the Ten Commandments hung on the walls of every courthouse.  But through the decades, the testimony of the church faded and so did the testimony of many individual believers.  We were called haters and intolerant because we said what God had said.  In many cases, we buckled to pressure and compromised our faith in order to be acceptable to the world.  Our testimony became a whisper. 

But the saints of Revelation overcame the enemy, not only by the blood of the Lamb but by the word of their testimony.  If we are to overcome in this age, we must give testimony as well. God is giving us a window in America in which believers must speak up again and testify to the reality of Jesus as well as the truth and demands of God’s word.  Whether in school board meetings, city council chambers, private conversations, church assemblies, or to our children at home, we must speak out and say what God has said about all things.  This is an essential part of spiritual warfare.  

So much hangs on our willingness to speak out for God.  Our words set spiritual forces in motion.  Our words correct the distorted world view of those around us and our words reinforce our own faith and certainty that the Word of God is true.  Let’s pray and ask God to give us boldness to testify in whatever circumstance we find ourselves. Certainly, we must do so in love and out of concern, not in self-righteousness.  But as we do, we too will overcome the enemy and encourage others to do the same.

In the 13^th chapter of Matthew, the former tax collector records an incident that occurred in Jesus’ home town.  Jesus had been touring Israel, preaching in villages and along the shore of Galilee.  After a season of ministry, he went home and began to preach in the synagogue.  Those who had known him previously were amazed at his teaching and his miracles. Perhaps, they had heard of his healings more than having witnessed them.  

Interestingly, after being amazed, they began to be offended.  The text reads, “Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” And they took offense at him” (Matt. 13:54-57).

Instead of being excited and celebrating what God was doing in the life of the man they had known as a boy, they took offense.  They fell into the trap of not being able to see what a man had become, but only seeing him as he once was.  Jesus had all the markers of a great prophet, but they could only see him as the carpenter’s son.  

Apparently, his teaching with authority felt as if he were talking down to them.  The last sentence in that section said, “And he did not do many miracles there because io their lack of faith.”  Jesus reflected on the experience by saying, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home.” Remember that even his own brothers did not believe until after the resurrection.

Perhaps, you have had the same experience trying to share Jesus with your family or old friends.  They may be polite, but still only see you as their child, their sibling, or their old “running buddy.”  It’s hard for parents to see even a grown child as one who can teach them or give direction to their lives.  Even when you are grown you are still their child.  Our siblings fall into the same trap.  It’s hard to submit your heart and intellect to someone you played with in the mud and carried with whom you carried out childhood rivalries. Old friends may be offended because you don’t share in their lifestyle of pursuing sin and pleasure anymore.

If you have a real burden for these people you love and care about, you may feel frustrated or feel like a failure because they won’t hear you.  Jesus gets you! He definitely knows how that feels.  How could anyone turn him down as a prophet with his stellar teaching and amazing miracles?  And yet they did.  We often forget that more people turned Jesus down than accepted him.

Let me encourage you.  Don’t measure your testimony or witness by those in your old circle of friends or even family.  Certainly, we need to share the gospel and tell them how Jesus has changed our lives.  Some will respond and reach out to Jesus.  But if they don’t…continue to love them and let your life be your testimony.  But in addition, pray that the Holy Spirit will birth faith and spiritual hunger in their hearts.  Just as importantly, ask the Lord to bring someone into their life to share the gospel whom they can hear – a peer, someone they look up to, or someone inserted into a circumstance at just the right time.  They may not be able to see us as someone who can give them direction, but we can pray and we can continue to model Jesus for them.  Take heart, Jesus’ entire family came to believe eventually.

Mark’s account of the demon possessed man in region of the Gadarenes (Gerasenes) is always intriguing.  This man certainly comes closest to the idea of “demon possession” of any person in scripture.  Demonization is usually the more accurate term when a person is afflicted by a spirit from time to time, but not controlled 24/7.  This man seems to be possessed because he was tormented day and night.  

Mark writes, “They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones” (MK.5:1-5).

The story of Jesus setting this man free by allowing multiple (Legion) demons to enter into a herd of swine which then rushed down a hill and drowned themselves in the sea is dramatic and memorable.  But the part I want to focus on in this blog is the man’s response after he had been set free.

We don’t know how long this man had been in this ultra-tormented state, but it seems like it had been more than a few weeks. These tombs in which he lived were along the shore of the Sea of Galilee.  On still nights he shrieking as he cut himself could be heard for miles across the water. It is likely that even Jesus had heard him from time to time.  If any consciousness of “self” remained in this man, he was truly a tormented soul feeling helpless to control his body.  

One question I have always asked is how did this man become susceptible to this many demons?  Perhaps, he had become involved in the occult and had lost himself to witchcraft through which he invited “spirits” into himself.  Modern day witches invite demons to take up residence within them because they draw power from the demons.  As we draw power from the Holy Spirit, witches and Satanists draw power from unholy spirits.  Perhaps, this man did as well and it simply got out of hand. We often see spirits of witchcraft afflicting the children of parents or grandparents who were involved in the occult, so perhaps he was the victim of generational curses. 

Whatever the source, this man was in overwhelming torment and without hope…until Jesus.  After Jesus commanded the demons to leave, we are told that he was dressed and in his right mind.  The locals who had witnessed the miracle and the destruction of the swine, begged Jesus to leave.  As he was getting into a boat, this formerly possessed man begged to go with him.  I certainly would have done the same.  I would have expected to be rejected by most people as a man who used to run naked among the tombs screaming at night.  More than that, I would been terrified that those spirits whom Jesus had cast out would return without his presence and protection.  I would have been terrified that I would have found myself in the same torment as before.

I would have expected Jesus to understand all that and take me with him, if I had been that man.  Afterall, Jesus had some other formerly demonized folks who travelled with him…Mary Magdalene for one.  But Jesus did not let him get in the boat. Instead, he told the man to, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you” (MK.5:19).  

This command of Jesus to a man who had been tormented and humiliated by the devil, is the heart of evangelism.  So often we feel unequipped to share the gospel with others.  We think we need more knowledge, more answers to possible objections to what we are declaring. What most of us need is not more Bible before we share the gospel, but a testimony of what Jesus has done for each of us.  People may try to argue against our understanding of scripture, but it is hard to argue against our experience with Jesus.  Remember the Samaritan woman at the well.  She did not go back to her village trying to convince them that Jesus might fit the profile of Isaiah’s prophecies about the Messiah.  She simply said that she had just met a man who told her everything she had ever done. That testimony drew people out of the village and when they themselves had heard Jesus speak, they believed.

Perhaps, like the Gadarene, we should spend more time thinking about what Jesus has done for us and more time sharing those experiences rather than continuing to think we need more Bible knowledge before we can share our faith.  More Bible is always good but Jesus did not command him to go to Torah school and become a Rabbi.  He told him to go and tell those he knew what Jesus had done for him.  By the way, when Jesus returned to that area, crowds were waiting to hear him.