Hi and welcome to the FBC Eldorado Sermon Podcast. We hope God will use this week's message to both inspire and challenge you as you seek to walk closer with the Lord. Now join me as we listen into this week's sermon. Well, amen, the Lord is good, is he not? We have the privilege of being able to declare the name that is above every name, because we know the Scripture teaches that the day is coming that every knee is going to bow, every tongue is going to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. It is good to be able to declare that name that has transformed our lives. I want to invite you, if you would, to take your Bibles and turn with me to Mark, chapter 5. We're going to be looking in Mark, chapter 5 this morning. It's good to be back with you today.
Speaker 1:Of course, I was with you the second Sunday in February and then you had your Disciple Now weekend. Ryan Scantlin came and shared with you that Sunday and then last week, apparently, as he described it my lookalike, warren Gasaway came and preached, and so I really appreciate him. I work alongside both of those gentlemen, work very closely with Warren, and I just really appreciate the work that team does? I know that yesterday we had an event at the Arkansas Baptist State Convention put on an event called Lead Defend, and if you've not ever heard of that or haven't ever participated in it, it is an event that is designed for junior high students, high school students and college students, where they gather together for a day where they learn how to interact with culture and where they learn how to continue to shine brightly the message of Jesus, their commitment to Jesus, in a culture that ever increasingly no longer values that, a culture that not only doesn't value it, seemingly they value that which is in opposition to the Word of God. And so how does a young person live in that world? And so you probably Warren, probably mentioned it last week, maybe Ryan did the week before, but yesterday was that event Almost 2,000 students came and gathered together in Little Rock for the purpose of being able to enjoy that time together. So when it was good, I was there and got to hear the people leading it, invest in those students. So very excited about that, excited about the fact that God is raising up a generation of young men and women that are committed to Him, sold out for Him and want to continue to advance the name of Jesus. So privileged to be a part of that. Thank you all. That's part of your ministry in missions through the cooperative program. So again, thank you for your partnership and how you make that kind of thing possible.
Speaker 1:Back in the fall of 1945, world War II had just ended and there was a man by the name of Piercy Spencer who worked for the Raytheon Corporation. Raytheon had been essential in World War II in terms of developing radar technology and the advancements they made. The discoveries that they made were instrumental in helping the Allied forces be able to win the war. And so here in the fall of 45, the war in Europe, the war in the Pacific had come to an end. And Piercy Spencer, he is in a laboratory there at Raytheon and he's doing some experiments. And as he's doing an experiment, the day he knew he was going to be doing these he decided he was going to slip a Hershey chocolate bar into his sports coat pocket. And so he went on to the office and conducted these experiments in the laboratory. Then a moment came when he remembered that chocolate bar and thought I'd like to eat that right now, and he reached into his sports coat pocket. And he reached in and grabbed a package that was absolutely just melted goo inside that candy bar wrapper. And all of a sudden, the scientist that he was, the experimenter that he was, he began to think what on earth has happened? The room is a normal temperature, what's going on here? And the wheel started turning in his mind. And all of a sudden, as he began to make observations about that technology that he was working with, he went and he got a, it's my understanding. He went and got some unpopped popcorn kernels and he held them up there and turned the machine back on and all of a sudden the popcorn started popping.
Speaker 1:What do you think was born that day? The microwave. The microwave was born. We have Raytheon to think for that Matter of fact. They applied for a patent October, the 8th of 1945. And the first microwaves were huge, you know.
Speaker 1:But now think about how it has transformed the American kitchen. I remember when my dad brought home the first microwave to our family. I'll tell you how much it's transformed. And my wife she's still pretty regularly, almost weekly, pops popcorn on the stove like on the actual stove top. And she was at Walmart not too long ago and the young lady who was the cashier. She was scanning the items and she picked up a bag of unpopped popcorn kernels and literally said to my wife what exactly do you do with this? That is how transformative the microwave has been to the American kitchen, and I'm very thankful for it. We guys, when our wives were out of commission or out of pocket, we'd starve to death if it wasn't for a microwave. So thank you all for that.
Speaker 1:But listen, I want to talk to you this morning we're going to look in Mark, chapter five, about a passage of scripture that involves a major transformation, and so, if you would join with me, we're going to be looking at this. I'm going to read the whole passage to you, beginning in verse one, mark, chapter five. It says then they and the they is Jesus and the disciples. They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the gatherings, and when he that is, when Jesus had come out of the boat immediately there met Him out of the tombs, a man with an unclean spirit who had His dwelling among the tombs. No one could bind Him, not even with chains, because He'd often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been pulled apart by Him and the shackles broken in pieces. Neither could anyone tame Him and always, day and night, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting Himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and he 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. For he said to Him Come out of the man unclean spirit. And then he asked Him what is your name? And he answered saying my name is Legion and we are many. Also, he begged Him earnestly that he would not send them out of the country.
Speaker 1:Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains. So all the demons begged Him saying Send us to the swine that we may enter them. And at once Jesus gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine there were about 2,000. And the herd ran violently down the steep place to the sea and drowned in the sea. So those who had fed the swine fled and they told it in the city and in the country and they went out to see what it was that had happened. And then Jesus. And then they came to Jesus and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the Legion sitting and clothed and in His right mind, and they were afraid. And those who saw it told them how it happened to Him, who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine. Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region. When he got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him. However, jesus did not permit Him. But he said to Him Go home to your friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and how he's had compassion on you. And he departed and began to proclaim in the decapolis all that Jesus had done for Him and all marveled, and he was able to do that.
Speaker 1:Now, this is a great passage of Scripture, starting at the end of chapter 4 all the way through chapter 5,. There are about four or five great messages in this passage of Scripture. For our purposes this morning, I'm going to try to limit it to one. As we look at these 20 verses and as we see the man that is introduced into the story here in Mark, chapter 5, how would you describe this man as he's mentioned there in the first few verses of chapter 5, we would find that he's described as demon-possessed. He lives in a cemetery. Did you pick up? That's his home. He lives among the tombs.
Speaker 1:It says he was uncontrollable. He is unchainable. Many times it says he's been put in shackles and in chains. Have you ever wondered who had that job? Who was responsible for going out and being the ones to put the chains on this man? He roamed throughout the hills, in the countryside. He screamed out, he cut himself. This man was intimidating. He was scary. He had a reputation in the community. Going out and seeing this man is what the teenagers did on Saturday nights. That's the kind of situation that we found in this region. Here is he was just terrifying to everyone who lived in this area.
Speaker 1:There's no hope for this man as he's described in these first few verses of chapter 5. It was a hopeless situation. Have you ever known somebody that you thought was in a hopeless situation? Now, just think about that for a moment. You just think and see if, remember, if there's anybody you can come up with in your mind that you think their situation is totally hopeless. I have a hard time believing that, whatever scenario you conceived of. It would be hard to be more hopeless than a man described in this passage of Scripture.
Speaker 1:Then, all of a sudden, one day, a boat pulls up on shore and a man gets out of it. If we were to take the time, we could back up to Mark, chapter 4. We're not going to do it. But Mark chapter 4 tells us that the day before Jesus had spent his time teaching there on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, that he was teaching the people, they were gathered all around him and he taught them in parables. Then, as the day wound down, he led the disciples to get into a boat which was parked there at the shore. He said to them we need to cross over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. That is what they began to do.
Speaker 1:If we were to take the time to look at how Mark chapter 4 concludes. They're crossing the Sea of Galilee and all of a sudden this huge windstorm blows up and the waves are huge and they're crashing over into the boat and the disciples. They're terrified. They think the boat is going to be sunk. What is Jesus doing? Do y'all remember how the story goes? He was in the back of the boat. He was asleep. And they wake Jesus up and say don't you care that we're going to drown? And Jesus, he stands to his feet and all of a sudden he speaks to the wind and to the waves and he tells them to be still, to be at peace, and they heed his voice and this passage of Scripture. To conclude, chapter 4. It says the disciples were terrified. They were afraid of what they observed in Jesus, who this man was. Now Jesus, he takes them across the shore of the Sea of Galilee because they have somewhere they need to go.
Speaker 1:Now. I don't know, have any of you been to stood up the shores of the Sea of Galilee? Anybody in here? Okay, we have two or three folks that are in the room here that have done that. I've never been to the Sea of Galilee. I want to do that, and so one of these days I'm going to. Matter of fact, if the situation in the Holy Land holds, I'm supposed to go. Do that. This come and fall, believe it or not. Never have been before and I'm looking forward to that. But it's my understanding that when you stand on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, there's 33 miles of shoreline around that body of water. To put it in perspective, it would be approximately like the distance from here to the north side of Camden, about 33 miles. Now, let's think about that. Those are all the points that Jesus and his boat could have landed on that particular day 33 miles worth of shoreline, and of all of those locations he could have pulled the boat up. He pulled up at a cemetery on the backside of the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis, which is a Greco-Roman region very different from the Jewish side of the Sea of Galilee, and as soon as he steps out of the boat, he encounters this man.
Speaker 1:Now, you've got to know that demons had to have been surprised, don't you? They're in this area that is predominantly not Jewish. They're over in the middle of what Jewish people would have considered to be nowhere. And all of a sudden, jesus of Nazareth steps out of this boat and there is this standoff that is about to occur a man who has a legion of demons, thousands of demons, living inside them, versus Jesus of Nazareth. And it's almost as though you can almost envision this old Western where they're standing eye to eye and there's this tension. What is about to happen? This demon-possessed man versus this other man who just got off of this boat. And yet we know full well this is no competition, because the one who stepped out of that boat is no mere man. He has always been and he will always be. He is the one that spoke everything into creation.
Speaker 1:And as he steps off of that boat onto the shore, all of a sudden, the demons. We find all they can do in this passage of Scripture is they come and they fall at his feet and they begin to beg for mercy. They beg for mercy. In verse 7 it says they say what would you have to do with this Son, jesus, son of the Most High God? I implore you, by God, do not torment me. That's all they can do. What else can they do? They know who Jesus is.
Speaker 1:The disciples may not know who Jesus is, the towns people may not know, the herdsmen may not know, but the demons know exactly who Jesus is. He is the Son of the Most High God. And we know the result this day. We know that they ask Jesus if it's possible for them to leave the man and go into the herd of pigs, and Jesus grants that. And so a very condensed version of the story is that Jesus gets off the boat and counters this demon-possessed man. The demons go into the pigs. The pigs rush down the embankment, they rush into the sea. The pigs are drowned. What an unusual story. Now you probably got a lot of questions about that. We're going to let your next pastor answer all those questions. All right, so that's not our purpose this morning. All right, we're going to focus on something else today.
Speaker 1:But it is amazing to think that Jesus, while he was on the earth doing His ministry, think about what he never did. He never went to Rome. He never once made a trip to the most powerful city on the surface of the earth. He never sought audience with the most powerful man on the surface of the earth, that is, the Roman emperor. You realize that the gospels never even record that Jesus ever visited Tiberius. It was on the Sea of Galilee. It was the leading city of the region. I'm certain he went there, but the Bible just never thinks it's important to note that he ever met or that he ever visited that place. Have you ever noticed the fact that Jesus never sought audience with Herod, the king of the region? Herod wanted to see Him. Jesus never thought it was important to see Herod. They never encountered each other until He'd been arrested before His crucifixion. But Jesus loaded up His twelve disciples, drugged them through a storm so that the boat could pull up on this part of the shore that had this cemetery, because there was this man Jesus wanted to encounter. This is how much this man meant to Jesus.
Speaker 1:As we think about this passage, we could spend a lot of time here and we could focus a lot of our attention on this for several sermons. But just for a moment this morning let's consider the responses that the people had in this passage of Scripture. Consider how the people responded. We're able to see. Here we get to verse 14, if we can go ahead and skip on down. It says verse 14,.
Speaker 1:So those who fed the swine fled, so those who were responsible for this herd of swine pigs, they fled. They told it in the city and in the country. So they went away and they said you're not going to believe it, but that huge herd of pigs, it's gone, it's dead, they're dead. Then you look at the second half of verse 14, they went out to see what it was that had happened. So the herdsmen go and report it. The townspeople come back. They want to check it out themselves.
Speaker 1:Then look and see what the first part of verse 15 says. Then they came to Jesus and they saw the one who had been demon possessed, who had the legion sitting and clothed and in his right mind. This is the man they'd known about for years and years. He roamed the hills. You couldn't visit this cemetery anymore because that man might be there and he was uncontrollable. He was unchainable. The Gospel of Luke says he was completely naked. He roamed the hills and terrorized everyone who was living in the area.
Speaker 1:And yet they come out here to encounter this man, jesus. And there sits that demon possessed man. He's in his right mind, he's fully clothed, he's calm, and they're able to observe this. And what is their reaction when they see the man sitting there? Look at the end of verse 15. It says they are afraid. How ironic is that? How many times over the years had this man struck absolute fear into them? And now they see him sitting in his right mind and their reaction is fear. Why are they afraid? They afraid pork prices are going to go up in the region. I don't think that's their primary reason for fear. You know why they're afraid. They do not understand who this is that got out of the boat. They are not able to comprehend how this man who has come from the other side of the Sea of Galilee has the power and authority to do what he has just done.
Speaker 1:And we come to verse 17, and verse 17 has got to be one of the saddest verses in the Bible. Verse 17 says they began to plead with Jesus to depart from their region. The God who has always been, the God who always will be. There has never been a time when Jesus was not. Let that soak into your mind. This is the one who came to the earth. He's going to ultimately give his life for the sins of the world. He's going to be raised triumphantly. That is the one that showed up in their community and their reaction is would you please leave? Would you please leave? Contrast that to the man's reaction.
Speaker 1:Look at verse 18. It says when he got into the boat, that is when Jesus did. He, who had been demon possessed, begged him that he might be with him. He, the townspeople, are begging Jesus to leave. The demon possessed man is begging to be able to go with Jesus. And what does Jesus say? It says in verse 19,. However, jesus did not permit him and he said to him go home to your friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and how he has had compassion on you. So Jesus answered when the man asked to go with him no, you can't go with me, but instead I want you to stay here on this side of the Sea of Galilee and I want you to go back to town and I want you to tell all those people what God has done for you.
Speaker 1:And verse 20, what does it say he did? He said he departed and he began to proclaim in the decapolis all that Jesus had done for him and all marveled. Now just imagine him going back into town. Can you imagine how long has it been, how long has it been since this man has walked through the streets of their community? Can you imagine? I know this is what my pastor refers to as sanctified imagination. All right, it's not in the Bible, but I'm just speculating here for just a moment. Can you imagine if the guy's mom is still alive? You ever thought about that before? What if he found his house where his mom lived and pulled open that door and she sees her son, that man who roamed the hills that everybody was terrified of. And there he stands declaring what the Lord has done for him.
Speaker 1:Who do you know who's a hopeless case? Mom or dad? As you sit there this morning, do you think of your son or your daughter and how far they are from the Lord? And do you think to yourself boy, if I'm where I sit, it just seems like they're a hopeless case. Or, son or daughter, you may be in the room this morning thinking of your mom and dad and thinking they've lived their life without Jesus. They have no interest in the things of God. To me, where I sit, they seem like a hopeless case. Is anyone too far from the Lord that he cannot come into their life and transform them completely? No one.
Speaker 1:You know what's so fascinating about this passage of Scripture to me? Just think about this. This man went from an uncontrollable, just wild man roaming the hills to a gospel missionary in one day, just a portion of one day. He didn't have to go off to school for this, he didn't have to graduate from seminary for this, he didn't even have to go back and get into the Jewish school system or even become one of Jesus' disciples. He went from an uncontrollable, demon-possessed man, to someone who was telling everyone he could all that God had done for him in one day. That is the power of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is how Jesus can transform a life.
Speaker 1:And so the question for us today is how will you respond to Jesus' authority? How will you respond to the authority of Jesus Christ? I want to invite you if you would go ahead and stand to your feet, if you would Now go ahead and stand to your feet. It seems a little odd to you. This is an indicator that we're getting really close to the end, but this is really important. I want your attention for just a moment. I want you to think about how do you respond to the authority of Jesus in your life.
Speaker 1:How did the people in this passage of Scripture respond? Well, what did the demons do? They begged. There was a lot of begging going on in this passage. They begged. What did they beg Jesus to do? Not send Him out of the region. Jesus was so interesting with the demons. They had a proper orthodoxy, a proper understanding and knowledge of who Jesus was, but they did not want to change their ways. They were not willing to surrender to the Lordship of Jesus. They just wanted to keep doing what they're doing. Please, let us stay in this region. That may describe some of you in this room today. You know who Jesus is. You're just not interested in Him having any authority in your life. When you think about the townspeople, the townspeople begged what they do. They begged Jesus to leave their region. They had no understanding of who Jesus was, but they got a glimpse of His authority and it terrified them and they didn't want any part of that.
Speaker 1:And you may find yourself today not really understanding what the Bible teaches and you may find yourself just thinking to yourself I just want to live my life, I want to do my thing, I'm not interested in the things of God. And then the man, the demon-possessed man, begged. He begged to let Jesus go with him. And what did Jesus say? You just need to go out there and tell everyone. You know what God has done for you. I want to invite you if you would please bow your head and close your eyes. If your head's bowed and your eyes closed, if you have been changed by Jesus Christ, then the invitation for the people of God today is to go and tell everyone we can all that God has done for us. Do you have enjoyed that transformation? That is the calling God places on our lives?
Speaker 1:You may find yourself with a burden for someone that you think of as a hopeless case, someone that has yet to receive Christ as Savior and Lord. They may be very far from God. They may be totally disinterested from Him. It is our privilege and responsibility to pray for them and then to share with them all that God can do for their lives. If you find yourself here this morning without a relationship with God, maybe you feel hopeless, maybe you feel empty, maybe you wonder what life is all about and what the purpose is behind it. All I want you to know today.
Speaker 1:Scripture makes it so clear. There is great hope. There is great purpose. The Bible says you are a sinner and as a result of your sin, you deserve to be separated from God forever and ever and ever. And as God sent Jesus to this earth, and Jesus as God come in the flesh, he lived a perfect life. He died on the cross to take the place for you. You deserve to pay for your sin. I deserve to pay for mine, but God loved us so much he sent His Son Jesus to pay the price for us. And then, three days later, he rose from the dead to demonstrate he really does have the power and ability to save us from sin, to rescue us from death and to fill our lives with purpose and with hope. If, to this point in your life, you've rejected Him, you've just you say I'm not interested, lord, leave me. I don't want any part of this.
Speaker 1:Today is the day of salvation. Today is the day you need to come to terms with who Jesus really is and surrender your heart and life to Him. Don't wait another moment, lord. We the majority of us in this room, presumably, lord, I'm confident we've come to a place in our lives where we realize that we're sinners. I know very well, I can remember very well that moment when, when I came to terms with the fact that I was hopelessly lost and I had no purpose Apart from the God that created me and and seemingly in that moment I was a hopeless case I Was living for myself, I was doing my own thing. I Didn't even know I needed you until suddenly I came aware of who you are and how great you are, and the fact that the invitation you extend is an invitation to turn from my sin To confess you as Savior and Lord and to surrender my life to you, and, and when I do that by faith, you forgive me of my sin. You come in and take control of my life and save me. Lord, and I thank you for the fact that you've brought about a transformation in me that has rescued from my sin and has filled my future with great hope, and you've done that for many others in this room this morning.
Speaker 1:And and, lord, I just pray for those here today, those watching online today, that they're just looking around and thinking to themselves. There's got to be more, lord. We know the Bible teaches that before we come to faith in Jesus Christ, we're living in death spiritually, I'm dead spiritually, living among the tombs Spiritually. Before I come to faith in Jesus Christ, I'm in shackles to my sin, I'm enslaved to it, but Jesus takes all that away. Jesus is the source of transformation, he is the source of hope. Thank you so much for sending your son To die in my place so that I could live. And so today, lord, we need to be an army of people who go out of this place Declaring all the great things that you have done for us. Let us do that even starting today.
Speaker 1:But this morning, right now, I pray that you'd speak into the hearts and lives of those in this room, those watching online, that desperately need the transforming power of Jesus Christ in their life or convict them of their sin and save them today. Thank you for your love, thank you for your power. Display it at this time. In Jesus name, amen. This morning, brian's gonna be standing down here at the front. I'm gonna be standing down here at the front as we sing, as those Around you sing. You need to give your life to the Lord Jesus Christ. So today, as we sing, you say yes To the only one who can save, and that is the Lord Jesus. As we sing, you come, let us share.