April 12- From the Tombs to a Testimony (Mark 5:1-20)

Part of the series from the Gospel of Mark: Living With Gospel Urgency

Transcript

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From the tunes to a testimony. From the tomb to a testimony. So if I were to ask the question, how would you summarize what Jesus came to this earth to do in one statement? What would you say? If you were to answer the question, for what purpose did Jesus come, how would you answer it? Now there would be a variety of ways we could answer that and potentially all of them be accurate. But actually, Scripture, John, in 1 John chapter 3, verse 8, he gives us a very clear, one-sentence statement. 1 John 3, 8. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. Now, the promise of doing such is very early on in our scriptures. All you have to do is open Genesis 1, Genesis 2, Genesis 3. You've got the fall of man into sin. With Adam's fall into sin, the whole human race would be plunged into sin. But immediately, as God pronounces the curses on man's sin, he also provides hope. He talks about how the seed of the woman will one day crush the head of the serpent. Most of you know that that took place on Good Friday, if you will, especially when you connect it to Easter Sunday and the resurrection of Jesus. There on the cross, Jesus destroyed the works of the devil. Listen to how Hebrews 2, verses 14 and 15 describe it. Jesus died to break the power of him who holds the power of death, that is the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. But now, folks, Jesus did not just defeat Satan on the cross. There were numerous other times where Satan and all of his demons were thoroughly defeated. It seems as though when Jesus came on the scene, it seems as though when Jesus started his earthly ministry, demons, it seems as though they start popping up everywhere. And without exception, the demons, they do not attack Jesus. Jesus attacks them. And without exception, when Jesus casts any demons out, they do exactly what he commands them to do. And so, folks, this morning I was telling Kevin before the serve before the praise team practice this morning. For somebody to potentially be in church for the very first time, or for somebody to have very little understanding about the scriptures, and you're here today, your eyeballs are about to jump out of your head. Because we're about to read what probably is the most dramatic portrayal of demon possession anywhere in the scriptures. As a matter of fact, as far as a survey of scriptures go, perhaps only when Jesus took Satan and a third of all the host of angels and kicked them out of heaven, do we see him dealing with as many demons as we will see him dealing with this morning? Now, um, when we come to uh Mark chapter 5, hours earlier, Jesus and his disciples had gotten in the boat. They had gone across the Sea of Galilee, midway, if you will, there's this horrific storm. And the disciples think they're gonna die. They did not hear Jesus correctly or fully when he said, We're gonna go to the other side. And during that storm, Jesus says, Peace, be still. And then those same disciples went from fearing the storm to fearing the one who had such power. And they ask a question: Who? Who is this that even the winds and the sea obey him? That question is about to be answered. And from an incredibly unpredictable source, from a demonized man, he's gonna answer the question who has power that the winds and the seas obey him? So, as we work our way through these 20 verses, I've got four plot points that will just kind of help us stay on track with what's going on in the story. And then I've got three take-home truths that I think all of us would benefit from. So, first, in the first eight verses, a demonized man. Verse one, they, the disciples in Jesus, they came to the other side of the sea, just like Jesus said, to the country of the Gerizenes. So having crossed the Sea of Galilee, they arrived at this predominantly Gentile region. There may have been some Jews living there, but it is known historically as a predominantly Gentile territory. Now, when Jesus several hours before said, Men, let's get in the boat and go to the other side, they probably thought, well, thank the Lord, man. I know we all need a break, right? Jesus needs a break. Let's get away from all of these crowds. That was not the only reason that Jesus said, let's get in the boat and go to the other side. On the other side, Jesus had a divine appointment. He had a divine appointment with somebody because look at verse 2. And when Jesus had stepped out of a boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs, a man with an unclean spirit. Now, this unclean spirit means there was a demonic spirit living inside this man. Verse 16 describes him as a demon-possessed man. Verse 18, a man possessed with demons. Literally, he was demonized. He was demonized. And so this demon, I'm gonna go ahead and let you know there are more than one. These demons, they indwell him, they control him, they torment him. These are fallen, evil angels that have taken up residency inside this man. As fallen angels, folks, demons are extremely powerful. They're unbelievably strong. Many of you may recall when we went through the book of Daniel a couple three years ago. Daniel has prayed. God has commissioned one of his angels to take a message to Daniel. Along the way, he, that angel, is confronted with a demonic spirit, this prince over the territory of Persia. And there are some who think that demons have territorial jurisdiction. So this demon comes, resists God's holy sent angel for three weeks. And the Lord ended up sending an archangel, Michael, to help uh bring the victory so the message could be delivered. And so these angels are powerful. And folks, don't think for a moment that you can just handle demonic powers and spirits on your own. Do not think for a moment that you in and of yourself are strong enough to enter into any kind of a spiritual battle without the Lord's help. That's why we're told in Ephesians chapter 6, verse 12. Folks, our struggle, our ultimate struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Now, demon possession is a rare occurrence. When you think about there being seven to eight billion people walking the planet, how many of them might be demon-possessed? It is an overall rather rare occasion. However, having said that, when you hear or read about some unbelievably wicked act taking place, when you hear or read a news story about some unbelievably wicked, violent act of violence, it is possible that there is at least demon influence, demon promotion of such, if not demon possession. And so verse three, this demonized man, he lived among the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore. They had tried, it'd been successful for a while, but not anymore, not even with a chain, for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. Now, him living among the tombs, we don't know whether he did that voluntarily, or if early on in the whole demon possession process, um the townspeople forced him to leave. We we don't know whether he's there voluntarily or forcibly. But because of this unclean spirit, he had superhuman strength. I don't know whether they increased the strength that he had. Initially, he might have been bound for a little while, but no more. Nobody with any chain that anybody could make or buy or purchase could subdue him. That word subdue is used in some other extra-biblical texts for taming a wild beast. This poor man, because of these demons, is a wild beast with a capital W. And my heart goes out to him, and yours will even more so as we keep reading. Verse 5. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains, he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. Any of us who've had small kids, or maybe you have small grandkids now, you know something about how hard it is at times if your son, your daughter, your grandkids think that there's a boogeyman in their room. You know, you gotta cut the light on, you gotta look under the bed, you gotta open the, you gotta show. No, no. Can you imagine? Can you imagine how hard it might have been for some of the townspeople? Put their kids to bed and all of a sudden, whatever the sound sounded like, oh I can I I I can just imagine some little boy running into his daddy, daddy, is is that man, is that man gonna get me? Is he gonna break into our home? No, no, son. I I heard him too. He's nowhere close to us. Let me put you back into bed. It's a pitiful sight. Crying out, cutting himself. So as he's taking these stones and cutting himself, is he trying to rid himself of the demons? Or are they trying to get him to commit suicide? Luke tells us that for a long time he wore no clothes. So here he is, fully exposed to the elements. Here's a man covered in lacerations, scabs, infections, scar tissue, living in continual pain. He's a mere shell of himself. In my sanctified imagination, he's probably lost 40, 50 pounds. But yet he's strong because of the demons. With all these multiple demons in him, it's hard to imagine anybody else in all 66 books of the scriptures being in worse shape than him. Different circumstances, Job, you know, man, Job and this man. Now, can I give you a take-home truth? And boy, I hope everybody will take this truth home. Given an opportunity, Satan always wreaks misery. Just given an opportunity, he always wreaks misery. Now look, I do know that sometimes he tempts us with pleasure. But folks, I don't care what the pleasure is, the pleasures of sin only last for a season. And then after the season of pleasure comes the misery. His objective is always, according to scriptures, to kill, steal, and destroy. The Bible tells us he's a murderer from the beginning. And so it's not surprising that those who work for him are treating this man so viciously. Satan always desires to destroy his prey. Always. 1 Peter 5, verse 8. Folks, be sober minded. This is written to believers, be sober minded, be watchful. Why? Because your adversary, the devil, he prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. To devour, to destroy, to ravage. Don't please, I'm begging you, don't underestimate the arch enemy of your soul. Do not underestimate what Satan would love to do, given an opportunity with your spouse, with your kids, with your grandkids, with our church. Satan doesn't play. He always aims to devour, to bring misery, destruction. Did you hear? Did you hear the news story? I unfortunately I wish I could unsee it. I saw the video clip. Did you hear about the Haitian man down in Fort Myers, Florida? I don't know the backstory. I don't know if he had a history, but he's at this gas station. He's got a hammer, and he is hitting the store clerk's car. Just hitting it, waiting for her to come out. She comes out, he takes that hammer, goes up. Man. He viciously hit her right on the head. She falls over. I wouldn't be surprised if she was not dead then. But then he goes over. I guarantee you. That if indeed demons were not encouraging it, they were certainly celebrating when it happened. Satan is a murderer. His aim with regard to sheep is to steal, kill, and destroy. Verse 6. And when he, this demonized man, when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. Now, this falling down is not in worship, it is in recognition of authority. You see, demons hate and loathe Jesus. They hate and loathe anything regarding Christianity in the advancement of God's kingdom. But in the presence of the Lord, he bows down. And oh folks, what a foretaste of the fact that one day every knee will bow. Of those who have human knees like we do, and all uh spirit beings, they will bow down and they will confess that Jesus was exactly who we know him to be and whom we worship him to be every every Sunday when we meet here. What no human being could tame, not even with ropes and chains, Jesus restrained with nothing more than his presence. Nothing more than his presence. Verse 7. And crying out with a loud voice, he said, What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you, I beg you by God, do not torment me. For he was saying to him, Jesus was, Come out of the man, you unclean spirit. So evidently, one of the demons, maybe he's the leader of the pack, he speaks on behalf of them all, and he uses the man's vocal cords and cries out to Jesus with a very, very loud voice. Initially, he asked a question, but in asking the question, he gives a very high Christological statement about Jesus. He refers to him as Jesus, Son of the Most High God. How in the world would he know that? Folks, remember that demons today were good and holy angels at the beginning of their creation. And so, until Satan led the rebellion and a third of the host followed him, until then, all current-day demons lived in the very presence of Almighty God. They knew God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit. Now, they had perhaps not yet ever seen Jesus in human flesh, but it was undeniable. This is He in human flesh, whom we've known from the beginning. And so they refer to him as the most Son of the Most High God. Most High God highlights God's absolute sovereignty over all powers, every single one of them. And the fact that Jesus is referred to as the Son of the Most High God means you know what? We acknowledge that any and all power and authority God the Father has, you do too. Jesus has the same authority, same essence. So having addressed Jesus with accurate attributes, the demon pleads, do not torment me. Speaking on behalf of them all. Matthew's gospel adds, have you come here to torment us before the time? That's not talking about necessarily a time on the watch. We're talking about a time that is to come. They know when they were thrust out of heaven, they know that there is a time coming. There is a time coming when they will be thrown into, I'll go ahead and call it the abyss. God will judge them with eternal damnation. More about that in a moment. Now, in verses 8 to 15, notice with me a delivered man. A delivered man. Verse 8. For he, that is Jesus, was saying to him, Come out of the man, you unclean spirit. And Jesus asked him, What is your name? He replied, My name is Legion, for we are many. Now, I had already kind of spilled the beans, kind of stolen a little bit of my thunder, if you will, but nonetheless, now we're about to have a further grasp of how horrific this situation was. My name is Legion, for we are many. A Legion of Roman soldiers was 6,000. Based on the studying I tried to do, it didn't mean it was always a 6,000 number contingency of soldiers, but that was the common number. I'm not suggesting that he had six thousand demons in him. But I do know this. He had a lot of them, and in just a few moments we're going to see about 2,000 pigs who were affected by these demons. And so, folks, just try to grasp that for a moment. Here's a man. I don't know how it happened. I was telling Kevin before the services this morning, too. The scriptures never tell us how somebody ends up being demon-possessed. But all I know is Satan's always looking for an opportunity, and when he finds an opportunity, he's going to bring misery. So, the soldiers of Satan, they were trampling this man's soul. His only hope was a liberator who had more authority and power than those who possessed him. And guess what? That person standing right in front of him. And Jesus is about to set this man free. Verses 10 and following. And he begged him earnestly. Again, this is the man, the demons using his vocal cords to speak, begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him, saying, Send us to the pigs. Let us enter them. And so, speaking again as one voice, using the man's vocal cords, they begged Jesus not to send them out of the country. Luke tells us in his gospel account of this in Luke 8, 31, they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. Folks, the abyss is a place of spiritual confinement before final eternal judgment. There are some demons already there. And they know there's the potentiality. Some of their friends, as it were, were already sent there, and they know the potentialities for us. And they're hoping that it's not going to happen now. Listen to Matthew 25, verse 41. Then Jesus speaking, then he will say to those on his left, Depart from me, you were cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. And so this demon speaking on behalf of however many hundreds or thousands of demons in this man, please. We know a day's coming. We just don't want it to be today. Let's go into these pigs. Folks, I cannot explain it to me. Jesus grants the request. If I didn't know anything about this story and you brought me up to this point, what do you think Jesus does? I'm thinking, no, no, no, no, no, no. He's not going to send them into the pigs. He's going to send them to the abyss. I don't know why. All I know is my God is sovereign, He is all wise, and there are kingdom purposes that He sometimes wants to fulfill in ways that we just can't understand right now. And so, verse 13, he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs, and the herd, numbering about 2,000, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea. Now, the demon's request sounds bizarre, right? It sounds bizarre to me. I got three pieces of parchment in my office that says I should not find it bizarre, but I do. So why? Um perhaps, perhaps they thought the Lord had changed his timetable of judgment and would otherwise immediately throw them into the great abyss. So look, we'll take the pigs over the abyss. Maybe because swine were the most unclean of all the unclean animals among the Jews, maybe the demons thought that Jesus wouldn't give a rip about entering demons. Sin is there. Or by inhabiting and then destroying the pigs, perhaps they thought, the demons did, that the townspeople who owned them would get so upset with Jesus for causing their destruction that maybe they'll kill him for killing them. We don't know. Verse 14. The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that it, I bet they did. And they came to Jesus and saw, folks, they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had the legion sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. Luke tells us that this man was sitting at the feet of Jesus. So he's now fully clothed. I don't know where the clothes came from, but in my sanctified imagination, I can see one of the disciples saying, Hey, you know, I mean, probably like, you know, you know, um, hey, I got an extra cloak. Goes gets it from the boat, puts it on him. He's fully clothed. He's in his right mind. And though the text does not tell us, I'll admit the text does not tell us, you know what I think Jesus and this dude, with the disciples listening in around a huddle, do while the towns, while the herdsmen go and tell what's happening and people are coming. He's sitting down and explaining the gospel. I think that's what Jesus did. He's telling him, hey, look, buddy, I can do more than deliver you from possession. I can possess you with the Holy Spirit. And I've come here to die for your sins. And maybe Jesus, knowing all things, explained to him how this all, I don't know, but I I'm convinced he shared the gospel with him. So now, no more wailing, no more crying, no more cutting, no more demonic strength or voice manipulation, no more doom and despair. What a testimony of the power of Jesus, right? What a glorious testimony of his ability to change a person's life. This guy goes from being a beast needing to be tamed to a saint, no longer bearing any shame. Man, that's good stuff. Now, interestingly, the text says in response to this formerly demonized man's radical life changed change, they were afraid. Remember the disciples? Fear of the storm, and then fear of Jesus. Who is I think it's probable that when people, even the disciples, when you're in the presence of unmasked glory of the Lord and the realization that this is not some ordinary person's presence you're in, I think the only natural human response is dread. I mean, if if if if he can do what he did to this man, what he what what might he do to me on the other end of the spectrum? Anyway, they were afraid. Um that brings us to verses 16 and 17. There is a displeased crowd. Not going to be shocking here, verse 16. And those who had seen it described to them, that is the townspeople, what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs, and they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. Say, what? Here's this man. I'm convinced every single person who's come to the scene of the crime, they know him. Some of them forged the change, some of them put him on him, some of them ran when he broke them. And now this radical there's zero. There's not any indication of even a smile. There's no rejoicing. There's rejection. Folks, there's no doubt in my mind, heaven rejoiced when this man's life was changed, and they they care more about the swine than their souls. They care more about their swine than they do this man's soul. So, folks, now I hope, I hope nobody in here, I hope nobody listening online needs this next take on truth. But you better mark it down. Unbelieving resistance is strong enough to keep Almighty God at a distance. You see, God is Almighty. We sang appropriately praises to the Almighty God, the Creator God. Jeremy quoted scriptures about Almighty Creator God. And yet, he, through your unbelief, will allow you to stiff arm him. How sad that these people witnessed an undeniable miracle, the power of the Lord to change persons' life, and yet they want Jesus gone. We're about to read of this formerly demonized man wanting to be with Jesus and stay with him all the time, and yet hear this crowd, they want him gone. They were more concerned about their possessions than his possession. It begs the question: who was more possessed? Who was more possessed than the demonized man or these folks who want Jesus to get out of here? Well, I wonder, um, I wonder how many of them perished. I don't know how many people are on the scene, but I wonder how many of them, when they died, they missed heaven. Verses 18 to 20. We conclude with a devoted man. A devoted man, verse 18. As he, Christ, was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed, past tense, praise the Lord, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. Oh Lord, please don't leave. And but but but but if but if you must, then Lord, please let me go with you. Now, if I didn't know any different, I'd have thought Jesus would have said yes to this request. But he doesn't. We'll see that in just a moment. But the Lord had changed his life and he wanted to spend the rest of his life in full, sweet surrender and service to his Lord. But again, the Lord had other plans, verse 19. And he did not permit him, but said to him, Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you. Hey, folks, a lot of the time, not all the time, but a lot of time when we conclude our services, Kevin will probably do it here in just a few minutes. He will wrap up a few things and then say, Go and tell. This is where it comes from. He tells this man go to your home, go to your friends, and tell them what has happened to you. This is a personalized commissioning. And all of us have it. Look, there's the great commission, and I'm assuming most all of us are familiar with it. The most familiar version is in Matthew's gospel. Go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, da-da-da-da-da. It's in all the gospels, it's in Acts chapter 1, verse 8. The Great Commission, it's broad, it's generic. But guess what? All of us who've been changed, who've been transformed, who've been delivered. You might not have been delivered by a demon, but you've been delivered from eternal hell. You've got a story to tell. So I want to urge you, every single one of you who know Jesus, go and tell people what Jesus has done for you. And for those of us who got saved at early ages, and you don't have maybe this radical story of deliverance. Think about all that the Lord delivered you from that you didn't have to experience. I often, and I and I spoke about this in the Wednesday morning service a couple of weeks ago. Think about how differently the trajectory of your whole life has been because you knew Jesus early on in life. Tell people about how good the Lord has been to you. Tell people about his grace, tell people about his mercy. Um, and let them know that they can experience the same. So, my last take-home truth is this though dark and depraved our world might be, your light can make a difference for somebody's eternity. That's right, you can. Teenagers, you can. Though dark and depraved our world might be, your light can make a difference for someone's eternity. So the story is told about an ophthalmologist. He had done all the schoolwork, he had done his rotations and all that kind of stuff, and so it's time to open up his practice. So the building was constructed, the practice was opened, he didn't have any friends, he didn't have any clients, he didn't have any money. He was starting to get a little discouraged until he met this blind man, a man who couldn't see. And he goes up to him and says, Sir, why have you not had your vision corrected? He said, I I didn't I didn't know that it could be corrected. He said, Why don't you come to my office tomorrow morning, first thing, and I'll I'll I'll take care of it for you. And the guy said, Well, I I don't I don't have insurance. Don't don't you worry about that. Don't worry about that. You just come. So the guy goes, the surgery's performed, and sure enough, the guy's sight is restored. He said, But sir, I I as I told you, I don't have a penny to my name. I cannot pay you. And the the ophthalmologist said, Oh, yes, you can. You can pay me very well, and it's gonna be easy. All you have to do is tell everybody you know I once was blind, and now I see, and let me tell you about the person who gave me my sight. Folks, we used to be spiritually blind, but for those of us who know Jesus, we we now can see. And so, why don't we tell people about what Jesus has done for us? So, in the in the waning couple of minutes we have left, let's let's put our sanctified imagination to work. And let's imagine this guy going home. Let's imagine that he has a family, a wife and a couple of kids. I wonder, therefore, how long it's been since he's seen him. I wonder how long it's been since he kissed his wife, how long it's been since he hugged his kids. And so he's making his way home. Heart's starting to pound. He's getting a little bit closer and closer and closer, and then all of a sudden, he can kind of start to see in the distance about where you know home is. And so he gets closer and closer, and then his little boy's out there playing with his Tonka trucks and his tractors and stuff and then dirt and all that kind of stuff, and looks up and sees Daddy coming. And then behind him, his sister, she she just came out of the house and she sees her brother looking at somebody and she realizes, Mama, Mama, it's daddy, daddy's coming home. And so in my sanctified imagination, I see I see that dad running, kneeling down, pulling those kids to him, loving on them, kissing them. And then there's his wife standing in the doorway, and she's a little bit apprehensive. But then he comes up to her, he kisses her and hugs her, and she speaking on behalf of the kids. Sweetheart, honey, what happened? I met a man named Jesus and he changed my life. Aren't you thankful the Lord has changed your life? Let's go and tell others so that they might be spared the misery that the devil would like to bring into their life. Father, I on behalf of my dear brothers and sisters in this room, listening online, I thank you and praise you for grace that is greater than our sin. I thank you, Lord, for the power of the Lord Jesus Christ to heal anybody's sinfulness. And one day he will heal all the diseases of our body, mind, and soul if we know him as our Savior. And Lord, maybe there's somebody in this room, and maybe they've been being oppressed, maybe demonic spirits, because we do, we all wrestle against these powers, these spiritual forces of darkness, and maybe somebody has just had the pressure really applied. Uh temptation has been intense. Oh Lord, I pray that we will put our faith and trust in you, that we will lean into you. And Lord, if anybody here doesn't know Jesus, I pray that they will come to know him as Savior and Lord of their life even today. Heads are bowed, eyes are closed real quickly. If you're here this morning and you would just simply say, Jeff, I do not know this Jesus. You're you just finished preaching about, but it sure sounds like I need to know more about him. I'm concerned about my soul. Would you pray for me? Anybody, just raise your hand, let me acknowledge it. Anybody, Jeff, would you please pray for my soul? I'm concerned about my soul. All right, next question, and then we're done. Who here this morning would just simply say, Jeff, man, I have a family member, a friend, a neighbor, a coworker, a teammate, a classmate, and I know they need Jesus. If if if you know that to be the case, would you just raise your hand? I I've got any man, hands all over. Now look, I'm not gonna get you to sign a pledge card saying you're gonna do this, you can put your hands down, but look, would you go and tell them what Christ has done for them, what he's done for you. Father, that's my prayer. I pray it for me. Lord, you know there's a there's a guy that I went to high school with, and I need to talk further about what's going on in his life. Give me the courage to go as early as tomorrow and talk to him about that. And for all of us, Lord, give us holy courage and boldness, I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.