It was the demons who saw him first.

When his boat was just a speck far out on the water they became agitated, and when the demons got agitated my life became a living hell.

But then, it always was the demons in control. Even as a boy they would seize me and make me do unimaginable things. When I was small, my parents could control me, could hold me down until the seizures stopped, but as I grew older and stronger, so did the demons. At first my family locked me in a storage room and pushed food in through a little window, but I was soon able to kick the door down and whenever I got free I would destroy everything in the house. Every jar, every chair, every garment. Then they tried chains and shackles, but the demons simply broke them, so they tried stronger chains and more chains, and posted guards, but it didn’t do any good. No chain was as strong as the forces within me. No man could restrain me. At that point they drove me out of the village. It took every man in the village to do it. Maybe some of you were part of that crowd.

Do you know what it’s like to live like an animal? No, worse than an animal. Much worse. A naked, raving lunatic, living out in the hills among the tombs, howling at the moon all night, screaming at the top of my lungs all day, raging at any and everyone who comes near. I cannot tell you how many times I tried to kill myself, but the demons wouldn’t let me. I would cut myself with sharp stones and bash my head with rocks, but they would never let me finish the job. Evil spirits were in control of my body and my life. Maybe some of you knew me then, remember what I was like. Maybe you threw stones at me. Maybe I threw stones at you.

Then one day he sailed his boat right up to the shore and stepped out and said something to the demons and suddenly they weren’t raging – they were terrified. They began shrieking and wailing and they made me run down to the shore to him, and then they threw me down at his feet. And then the strangest thing happened: they called the man Jesus, Son of the most high God, and they begged him not to torture them! They begged him! The demons that snapped chains and cast off shackles and broke the bones of those who tried to restrain me groveled at his feet and begged for mercy!

He asked them their name and in a thousand voices they replied, “My name is legion, there are so many of us.” Then they begged him to let them go into the herd of pigs that was on the opposite hill, and when he told them “Go!” it was like every fiber of my being was ripped from my body. But when they were gone, for the first time in my life, I felt at peace. I felt whole. I felt like a human being again. I began to kiss the feet of this man, but he had me sit up, and someone handed me a garment, and then he began to talk to me about the most wonderful things.

Everyone else was watching the pigs running down the hill to the bluff and plunging into the sea, but he was looking only at me; talking only to me. I tried to tell him what my life had been like, but it was like it had never happened. Instead, he began telling me what my new life was going to be like, and it was wonderful.

We were still talking when some of the town’s people came running up to see what the commotion was. They saw me and immediately picked up rocks and stones to drive me away, but when they saw that I was just sitting there, having a normal conversation, you should have seen their jaws drop!

It got ugly after that. When they saw what had happened to the pigs, to their livelihood, they wanted no part of Jesus, Son of the most high God. Some begged him to leave; some even threatened him if he didn’t, so he got back in the boat. I begged him to take me with him. I wanted to serve this man for the rest of my life. I wanted to be his slave! But he wouldn’t let me. He told me to go tell my story, so that’s why I’m here.

I am here to tell you that I was already dead – worse than dead – and he gave me life. He defeated my demons and set me free, and he can do the same for you. He is stronger than whatever possesses you; he can defeat whatever drives you. I beg you, find this man and fall at his feet and acknowledge that he is Jesus, Son of the most high God, and ask him to release your demons.

He did it for me. He will do it for you.